Rs 3,000 crore FDI from Mauritius flows into India

New Delhi, Jan 18 (UNI) The government today approved Mobile Infrastructure Mauritius Ltd and its group companies to make a foreign investment upto Rs 3,000 crore (674 million dollars) in the Indian telecom sector.

''The approval is subject to licensing and security requirement of the Department of Telecom (DoT) and to the condition that the company would divest 26 per cent of equity in favour of the Indian public in five years if the company is listed in other parts of the world,'' Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting here.

The investment would be done by way of acquisition of 10,000 rpt 10,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each from S Venkataeswarlu and Mrs Chandra Padmasri who represent 100 per cent shareholding of the company.

The balance will be invested by way of further issues of shares from time to time over a period of five years depending on the capital recquirements of the company.

Today's development comes close on the heels of the Cabinet giving its ''broad'' approval to enhance FDI limit to up to 74 per cent in the telecom sector.

The Cabinet has also extended the deadline for telecom operators to comply with the revised guidelines by three months till March-end 2007 for enhanced FDI limit of 74 per cent.

A Cabinet earlier said that FDI up to 49 per cent would continue to be on automatic route and Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval would be required for FDI in companies if it has a bearing on the overall ceiling of 74 per cent.

UNI