Maruti-Futaba auto parts JV among Rs363 crore FDI plans cleared

Mumbai: The government has approved car maker Maruti Suzuki''s plan for a joint venture with Japan''s Futaba Industrial Co to make auto parts.

Futaba will hold 51 per cent for an initial investment of Rs45.9 crore in the proposed venture with Maruti for making auto exhaust system components, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Maruti''s joint venture was one of the 13 foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs393.36 crore cleared by the government.

Another Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corp''s subsidiary, Metal One Corp, got approval to buy up to 5 per cent in a joint venture where Tata Metaliks will hold 51 per cent and Kubota Corp of Japan will have 44 per cent.

Danish brewer Carlsberg got the green signal to buy a 60 per cent stake in privately owned Indian company Parag Breweries through its Indian subsidiary South Asia Breweries.

The biggest FDI proposal cleared was that of Aster Infrastructure, which has been allowed to sell a 72.5 per cent stake in its telecom infrastructure company to foreign firms for Rs233 crore.

KVK Energy and Infrastructure plans to sell a 70 per cent stake to foreign firms for Rs97.1 crore.

Finance minister P Chidambaram approved the proposals on the basis of recommendations by Foreign Investment Promotion Board, an official statement said.

Three proposals by Premier Travel Inn India Ltd, UK, Denso Kirloskar Industries Ltd and MTV India Ltd have been sent to project approval board since they related to only royalty payment for technology transfer or brand payments only. No FDI was involved in these proposals.

Three other companies — Devas Multimedia Ltd, Manipal Universal Learning Ltd, Bangalore and IBSS Techno Park Ltd — have been asked to approach RBI with their proposals since there were certain "technical irregularities", official sources said.