853 FDI proposals disposed of in 5 years

New Delhi: As many as 853 foreign direct investment proposals have been disposed of through the foreign investment facilitation portal in the last five years, the commerce and industry ministry said on Tuesday.

The Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP) was developed after the abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in May 2017.

After the abolition of FIPB, granting of government approval for overseas investment under the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policy and FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations was entrusted to the concerned ministries/departments, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the ministry, was made the nodal department.

It said, "853 FDI proposals have been disposed of through FIFP since abolishment of FIPB."

FDI proposals are now required to be filed only on the portal which is managed by the DPIIT.

The proposals filed on the portal are forwarded to the concerned administrative ministry and are also simultaneously marked to the ministry of external affairs and the Reserve Bank of India for comments and to the ministry of home affairs for necessary security clearance, wherever required as per the norms. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing of FDI proposals, including documents to be filed, through the portal was framed and laid down by the DPIIT in June, 2017.

The DPIIT secretary reviews the pendency of all FDI proposals on a monthly basis.

Since the beginning of the new clearance process, not only the foreign investment has increased but also "the number of countries bringing in FDI into India", it added.

In 2014-15, FDI inflow in India stood at $45.15 billion, which has increased to $83.57 billion in 2021-22.