Budget 2014: USIBC Seeks Relaxation In FDI Norms In Insurance And Defence

The council urged the Union Finance Minister to ensure that transfer pricing principles are applied in a fair and consistent manner for all taxpayers, as well as allow a reasonable method for determining transfer pricing.

"On defence, USIBC looks forward to positive signals indicating clarity and allowance of greater than 50 percent FDI in India's defence sector.

"This enables greater defence manufacturing cooperation, wider scope of technology transfer, and expedient development of India's Defence Industrial and Technological Base," it said.

Passage of the Insurance Laws Bill, 2008 is an urgent business reform needed to boost domestic job creation and send a strong signal to the global investment community that India is "open for business," the memorandum said.

"We strongly support the expeditious passage of this critical foreign investment reform including the provision to raise the existing 26 percent FDI cap to 49 percent, unfettered and without voting rights restrictions.

"It is an imperative that the opening be full and "clean" without these voting rights compromises which are harmful to global investor confidence," USIBC said.
SEBI's new Foreign Portfolio Investor regime is a step in the right direction for streamlining the foreign investment process, including registration, clearance, and administration of portfolio investment, USIBC said.

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