Radical Changes in FDI Policy Regime; Most Sectors Now on Automatic Route for FDI

The Union Government has radically liberalized the FDI regime with the objective of providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India. This is the second major reform after the last radical changes announced in November 2015. Now most of the sectors would be under automatic-approval route, except a small negative list. With these changes, India is now the most open economy in the world for FDI.

Accordingly, the government has decided to introduce a number of amendments in the FDI policy. Changes introduced in the policy include increase in sectoral caps, bringing more activities under automatic route, and easing of conditions for foreign investment. These amendments seek to further simplify the regulations governing FDI in the country and make India an attractive destination for foreign investors.

FDI policy on broadcasting carriage services has also been amended. New sectoral caps and entry routes are as under: