India looking for FDI in sectors attracting technology

Tuesday, 27 April 2010, 16:20 IST   |    3 Comments
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India looking for FDI in sectors attracting technology
New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma Monday said that the government will prefer foreign direct investment (FDI) in and subsidies to those sectors which would attract technology and investment. "We are looking at those sectors which will attract technology and investment," the minister said on sidelines of the Annual Intellectual Property Awards 2010 ceremony, organised by his ministry in association with industry lobby, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Sharma said the government is also keen on extending concessions to those sectors which continue to be in the red, following the economic downturn in 2008. "But we are not looking at FDI in multi-brand retail as of now," he said. The minster hoped that the exports in 4th quarter of the last fiscal will help to overcome losses in the sector - which continued for 13 months till November last year. He hoped they would touch $167-170 billion in the last fiscal. India's merchandise exports grew 34.8 percent to $16.09 billion (72,400 crore) for the fourth consecutive month in February. The minister expressed concern over fall in rate of patents by Indian applicants. "While the number of patents by Indian firms fell by 29 percent last year, in China, it went up by 30 percent. Why is there less investment for innovation? Why aren't the MNCs coming up with innovations?" he asked.
Source: IANS
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