“The rules and regulations for both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India and overseas investment by Indians will be simplified to facilitate foreign investments, and promote opportunities for using the Indian Rupee as a currency for overseas investments,” India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Presenting the government’s annual budget, Sitharaman announced a five-percent cut in corporate tax for foreign companies. The new rate will be 35 percent, with the aim of incentivising foreign entities with investments in India.

“We are trying to bring in ease of doing business in India,” she assured potential investors abroad. “In every sector where there was only 26 percent foreign direct investment allowed, we raised it to 49 percent and then wherever possible, we have raised it to 74 percent.”

She said there has been a consistent and continuing effort to relax the government’s policies to attract FDI. “In that process, we are willing to do further simplification,” she said.

Referring to the decentralisation of investment norms, Sitharaman said states will be incentivised to implement their business reforms and action plans to make federal investments more attractive. – editor@nrifocus.com