India may allow Bangladeshi FDI soon on case-to-case basis

New Delhi, July 22 (UNI) India today said it is reveiwing the blanket ban on FDI from Bangladesh and was looking at enabling FDI from Bangladesh into India on a case-to-case basis, subject to security clearance.

''It is true that presently India prohibits FDI from Pakistan and Bangladesh for security considerations. We have been reviewing these restrictions with a view to enabling FDI from Bangladesh into India on a case-to-case basis, subject to security clearance,'' said Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh at the launch of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dhaka today.

''Such a blanket ban makes no sense, especially since Indian companies themselves want to invest in Pakistan and Bangladesh,'' he added.

The minister said hopefully Bangladesh businessmen will soon receive some good news in this regard.

He said that investment is the key to reducing Bangladesh's trade deficit with India. ''Investments made by Indian companies in Bangladesh will help India to import more from Bangladesh,'' he said.

Tata's proposal to invest about three billion dollars in Bangladesh is being considered by the Bangladesh government, he added.

''India's imports from Bangladesh can increase by at least one billion dollars every year, which is almost five times of Bangladesh's total exports to India last year and this will cover steel, urea and coal,'' Mr Ramesh said.

UNI