Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIF) on Tuesday completed 5 years since the Union Cabinet decided to abolish Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2017.
In a significant achievement, 853 FDI proposals have been disposed of through the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIF) since the abolishment of FIPB.
The proposal for the abolition of FIPB was approved by the Union Cabinet in its meeting on 24th May 2017.
Subsequent to the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), granting of government approval for foreign investment under the extant FDI Policy and FEMA Regulations was entrusted to the concerned Administrative Ministries and Departments and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, was made the nodal Department.
The FDI proposals were, thereafter, required to be filed only on Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIF Portal) which is managed by DPIIT. The proposals filed on FIF Portal are forwarded to the concerned Administrative Ministry.
They are also simultaneously marked to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for comments and to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for necessary security clearance, wherever required as per the FDI Policy/ FEM Regulations.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing of FDI proposals, including documents to be filed, through the FIF Portal was framed and laid down by DPIIT on 29th June 2017 with an amendment on 09th Jan 2020.
Since then, not only the FDI has increased so has the number of countries bringing FDI into India.
In FY 2014-15, FDI inflow in India stood at a mere USD 45.15 billion, which increased to USD 60.22 billion in 2016-17 and further to the highest ever annual FDI inflow of USD 83.57 billion reported during the FY 2021-22 despite COVID-19 pandemic and recent Russia-Ukraine conflict.
During FY 2021-22 FDI has been reported from 101 countries, whereas, it was reported from 97 countries during the previous financial year (2020-21).
Automated alerts through SMS and emails to concerned ministries/ departments are being used to regulate the pendency of FDI proposals. Secretary, DPIIT reviews the pendency of FDI proposals across all ministries/departments on a monthly basis.
This has expedited the disposal of FDI proposals. Regular training sessions are also being conducted to educate ministries/departments regarding the judicious and expeditious processing of FDI proposals.
Regular round table conferences are conducted with investors and law firms alike to keep abreast of the practical issues and problems being faced at the ground level.
The FDI proposal form on FIF Portal is regularly reviewed to reduce the compliance burden on applicants. FAQs have been updated and placed on the DPIIT website and on FIF Portal for ease of access.
Hence, continuous effort is made by DPIIT to ensure that India remains an investor-friendly destination.