Centre clears 12 FDI proposals

New Delhi: The plans of SingTel Australia Holdings, Singapore, to set up a joint venture company in India with 74 per cent FDI, for offering long distance telephony services, is among 12 FDI proposals cleared by the Government.

The proposal was cleared after Bharti gave its no-objection to SingTel’s joint venture plans, sources said. Singtel’s proposal includes FDI of Rs 48 lakh. The 12 proposals totalling Rs 354.1 crore approved by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) also includes a proposal worth Rs 160 crore from Hyderabad-based Costal Projects for converting itself from an operating company into an operating-cum-holding company.

New Delhi-based Unicon Financial Intermediaries, engaged in commodity broking, stock broking and other non-banking finance activities, has also received Government’s nod for its Rs 120-crore FDI proposal entailing increasing the foreign investment in the holding company. Also, Aurionpro Solutions would bring in Rs 53.6 crore of FDI (to issue equity shares and convertible warrants).

Close to Rs 19.45 crore of FDI would flow into India through a proposal by Standard Chartered Bank (Mauritius) envisaging “acquisition of additional equity either in the form of Compulsorily Convertible preference shares or by way of equity shares and conversion of operating company into operating-cum-holding company.”