<article>In a major overhaul, the government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in sectors like food processing and defence and done away with the need for prior government approval for foreign investment in brownfield projects in pharma and aviation.</article>

In a major overhaul, the government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in sectors like food processing and defence and done away with the need for prior government approval for foreign investment in brownfield projects in pharma and aviation.
However, it tightened norms around single brand retail trading limiting up to 8 years the waiver for local sourcing norms.
Now those entities undertaking single brand retail trading and seeking exemption from local sourcing norms for having state of art and cutting edge technology will get a waiver only for three years with an option of extending it by another 5 years.
Earlier, there was no time limit for exemption from local sourcing norms.
This means like entities like Apple will now have to take a call if they want to avail the waiver from the new local sourcing norms.
They will get a chance to indicate their preference under the new policy, said Ramesh Abhishek, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion adding that the government is still discussing how to define cutting edge.
Key highlights:
—Up to 100% FDI in defence sector
—Up to 74% FDI in Brownfield Pharmaceuticals under automatic route
—100% FDI in Brownfield airport projects under automatic route
—100% FDI in civil aviation
—FDI Up to 49% in civil aviation under automatic route, beyond 49% through govt approval
—Local sourcing norms for FDI in single brand retail for products having “state of art” and “cutting edge” technologies
—100% FDI under automatic route for cable networks, DTH and mobile TV
Reuters contributed to this story.
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India: Govt announces major overhaul of FDI rules

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