NEW DELHI, JULY 27: The Union Cabinet has decided to set up a Foreign Investment Implementation Authority (FIIA) to act as a single point interface between the investor and the various government agencies like central ministries, state governments, pollution control boards, DGFT and regulatory authorities.Briefing newsmen about the cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan said the Investment Authority would provide pro-active one stop after care service to foreign investors in obtaining necessary approvals, sorting out operational and co-ordination problems with different arms of the government.The FIIA, he said, would be headed by the secretary, industrial policy in the ministry of industry. Its members would include various secretaries to the central government and chief secretaries of the state governments. There would be a provision for co-opting any other necessary functionaries or experts.Mahajan further pointed out that the move was aimed atexpediting foreign direct investment (FDI) by doing away with need for obtaining approvals from multiple agencies. In addition, the FIIA would also address the concerns of investors as well as the agencies.The FIIA, Mahajan said, would set up a fast track committee (FTC) to review and monitor mega projects and initiate inter-ministerial consultations to resolve policy problems.The FIPB, it may be mentioned, deals with approval of cases not covered under the automatic route. However, after the approval of investment several other clearances were required for which there was no assistance to the investor.Although the FDI approval in India from 1991 to March 1999 totalled $ 55.63 billion, the actual inflow was only $ 16.62 billion. The FDI inflows to the developing countries stood at 40 per cent in 1997 amounting to $ 149 billion. However, India's share was only 2.2 per cent.The cabinet, Mahajan said, has also cleared the proposal of the communications ministry to bid for setting up of Asia PacificTelecommunication Standard Institute in India. Proposed by the International Telecommunication union, the institute will be an autonomous inter-governmental organisation for Asia Pacific Region under the aegis of Economic and Social Commission of Asia and Pacific (ESCAP). The institute will promote and harmonise development of standards for telecom products, services and technology and will come up at Ghatroni near Delhi at a cost of Rs 5 crore.The cabinet also approved the signing and ratification of the Tampere convention on emergency telecommunications, which was finalised under an inter-governmental conference in Finland in June 1998. The convention makes available international assistance for restoration of telecommunication links at the time of disaster or during search, rescue and relief operations.
