The Hindu Business Line : Lift ban on FDI from Bangla: Jairam Ramesh

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New Delhi Feb. 10 The Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, has pitched for lifting the ban on foreign direct investment (FDI) into India from Bangladesh, especially in the context of big Indian companies like Tata seeking to invest in that country.

In a recent communication to the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, Mr Ramesh said that right now "we have banned FDI from Pakistan and Bangladesh, while the ban on Sri Lanka was lifted a couple of years ago."

He said that at a time when India is trying to push Indian FDI into Bangladesh, it makes "no sense to keep the restrictions on Bangladesh FDI into India". The Minister pointed out that this assumes importance in the light of $3-billion FDI proposal of Tata to set up fertiliser, cement, power and paper plants there, which is being considered by the Bangladesh Government.

$3-b Tatas plan

He also said that the $3-billion proposed FDI by Tata is more than "the entire stock of FDI that currently exists in Bangladesh".

Mr Ramesh said FDI from Bangladesh could be considered on a case-by-case basis to take care of security and "sources of funds" questions. He also recalled that the issue of FDI from Bangladesh into India was also highlighted during his visit to Dhaka in April 2006.

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