The Centre will soon clear US retail giant Amazon’s proposed $500 million investment in retail of food products in India, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said on Tuesday.
“There was some delay due to abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). It (Amazon’s proposal) will soon be cleared,” she told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
With the abolition of FIPB, an inter-ministerial body, Amazon’s proposal will now be vetted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the Commerce Ministry. A total of $650 million FDI proposals in the food retail sector are pending clearance, including by BigBasket and Grofers.
The Union Cabinet had last month decided to wind up the 25-year-old FIPB to expedite the FDI clearance process. Under the new mechanism, investment proposals will be approved by the ministries concerned as per the standard operating procedure approved by the Cabinet.
MoU with ANUGA On Tuesday, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ANUGA- the world’s largest trade fair for food and beverages held in Germany.
“By signing this MoU with ANUGA, we aim to create a business platform for Indian food processors and exporters and also put Indian food and cuisine at the global platform,” Badal said on the occasion.
The Minister also announced that her Ministry had tied up with another large food trade fair — SIAL — which is partnering with World Food India 2017, the “largest ever” food investors trade fair to be held in the Capital in November this year.
“Allowing 100 per cent FDI in food retail alone will not bring FDI. We need to attract foreign investment into our domestic modern food retail which shall drive domestic production and manufacturing in a big way,” Badal said.