The Kerala-based Dhanalakshmi Bank's proposal to raise capital to meet its growth needs will be taken up by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on April 20.

An application by Honda Motors India will also be taken up. Forty-four other proposals for foreign investment, including 25 new ones, will also be considered.

Dhanalakshmi Bank is seeking to raise capital of Rs 1,000 crore, but it is not known how much of this will be foreign investment. The bank said it is in its “silent period.”

The bank reportedly has the RBI's nod for raising the money in two tranches in the next 3-4 months. In the first phase to be completed by May 15, the bank is planning to raise Rs 500 crore from private investors, while the remaining Rs 500 crore would be raised through eligible qualified institutional investors and GDR.

Among those keen to invest in the bank include private investors and firms from the UK and the US. Talks are still in progress regarding the mode of investment.

According to the agenda note for the FIPB meeting, the proposal from Honda Motors involves the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the Ministry of Heavy Industries and the Department of Higher Education, while Dhanalakshmi Bank's proposal involves the Department of Economic Affairs and DIPP. The note, however, did not give any details including the proposed amount of investment.

The other new proposals are from Bangalore-based Park Controls and Communications and the Cayman Islands-based NCBG Holdings, both for defence production.

The new proposals also include two from the chemicals/petrochemicals sector: that of Titan HMG Paints India (Coimbatore) and the Bangalore-based Vivimed Labs.

The proposals from the petroleum and natural gas include that of the Delhi-based Selan Exploration Technology and Cals Refineries (Delhi and Haryana). There is also a proposal from the Andhra Pradesh-based Gayatri Projects in the road transport and highways sector.

Of the 46 proposals, 21 were deferred in earlier FIPB meetings.

These include: Punj Lloyd (Delhi and Haryana) to undertake additional activities of manufacture, assembly and repair of defence equipment; Maini Precision Products (Bangalore) to undertake defence related additional activities of manufacture of parts and accessories of aircrafts, spacecrafts; Lokmat Media's proposal, for induction of foreign equity by way of IPO to carry out the business of publishing of newspapers dealing with news and current affairs; and Arshiya International's proposal for ex-post-facto approval for issue of warrants to provide logistics solutions, integrated supply chain and logistics infrastructure services.

The deferred proposals to be taken up during the meeting include those for FDI from Bangladesh including Southern CNG Automobiles India and Mango Holding Ltd.

FDI inflows during April 2010-February 2011 had fallen by 25 per cent to $18.3 billion.

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