FIPB clears Alcatel project

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board FIPB today cleared 35 foreign direct investment FDI proposals worth Rs 500 ...

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board FIPB today cleared 35 foreign direct investment FDI proposals worth Rs 500 crore, including one by Alcatel to launch a satellite.

The Rs 1,100 crore satellite project, jointly promoted by Alcatel of France and Skysat Holdings of Singapore, would be used in telecommunications and multi-media services, FIPB sources said here. The board cleared 49 per cent foreign equity part of the project worth Rs 176 crore, of which Rs 90 crore would be held by non-resident Indians NRIs.

The project, which would go to the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment CCFI for final clearance, would however require separate approvals from the department of space and the department of telecommunications, the sources said. Alcatel and foreign institutional investors would hold 24 per cent in the project, which would have a total paid up capital of Rs 360 crore.

The high-powered board also okayed a proposal from UK-based Powergen PLC to bring in Rs 173.5 crore moreas FDI to be used for picking up equity in the Bina power project in Madhya Pradesh.

However, the board did not take up the controversial proposal of Rothmans to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary for manufacturing premium cigarettes. The proposal, scheduled to come up last Saturday, was not listed for today8217;s meeting. The FIPB did not meet last week. Rothmans proposal could come up on October 24.

The board also gave the go-ahead for an eight-lane toll bridge across the Yamuna river from Noida UP to Delhi. The Rs 630-crore project to be funded by the Asian Development Bank, would be implemented by the Mitsui-Marubeni consortium of Japan.

Among other proposals cleared today was one by US involving an increase in equity stake from four to 38 per cent by Mitsui of Japan and Century Direct Fund of Mauritius in the project for making audio-visual software.

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It also cleared a proposal from Otto-Burlington, Boots and Punwire.