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Full Form of FIPB
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Roles
FIPB acts as a medium for bringing FDI into the country within the cap of Rs 1200 crore. It ensures the process from filing for approval to using funds is done with transparency and effectiveness.
- FIPB grants single-window approval for the project proposals under foreign direct investment.
- FIPB acts as the delegator for the government to control the inflow of FDI into the country's sector.
- Foreign Investment Promotion Board comprises representatives and secretaries from different ministries who carefully examine the project proposal under FDI and approve the same.
- The FIPB committee considers proposals up to 1200 crores to approve and sanction the FDI.
- Project crossing the size of Rs 1200 crores needs to take approval from the ministry of economic affairs (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCEA).
- Firms and businesses seeking FDI under 1200 can go for e-filing to submit the project proposal for approval from FIPB.
- The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), through this e-filing, maintains transparency and improves the efficiency of decision-making.
Functions
FIPB is a board created by the government and reports to the ministry of finance. FIPB is one efficient means for the government to control and manage FDI inside the domestic boundaries. FDI requirement sector/ industry-wise is managed and maintained by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
- The main function of FIPB is to review the execution and usage of funds raised through Foreign direct investment.
- To ensure the process of raising FDI is quicker and approvals aren't delayed.
- It communicates between the government, non-government, industry, and agency bodies.
- Its another function is to bridge the communication gap between FIPB and FIPC (Foreign Investment Promotion Council).
- To research the individual sector to determine each sector's need and range of FDI required.
- To conduct campaigns of a larger scale to create awareness and make FDI look attractive from investors' perspectives.
- To maintain transparency and efficiency in raising foreign direct investment inside the country.
Constitution of FIPB
The main agenda of FIPB is to manage the flow of FDI into the country. The FDI is crucial in building an economy as the interest rate is very low compared to the domestic ones. The lock period on these FDI funds is also more than the local lock-in period. Hence, for the business to expand, the FDI is cheaper than the rest of them locally. The margins can increase significantly, and the available funds can be used for working capital management.
FIPB researches the different industries sector-wise and decides the range of FDI that should prevail in that particular sector. When the government fixes the cap on the individual sector for permissible FDI in each sector, FIPB approves the proposal for FDI through these industries. FIPB is present to speed up the approval process and maintain the transparency of the funds' flow. The FIPB should also make sure the funds are used correctly and the purpose of FDI decided by the government is served fully.
Need
FIPB is the board for bringing the funds through FDI. It acts as the bridge between government, non-government bodies, firms, and agencies to communicate and decide the optimum FDI limit in each sector. It also approves the proposal for FDI by which FIPB also controls FDI flow into the economy. The Government has an upper say on the limit of FDI in each sector. FIPB can approve proposals up to 1200 crore across the sectors. Whenever there is a change in the limit, the approval and proposal will take a lot of time to get effective. FIPB's presence makes the whole process quicker and also keeps the whole process transparent and efficient. FIPB is a government-controlled board that mainly indulges in the inflow and outflow of FDI into the country.
Advantages
- The FIPB speeds up the process of project proposal and approval of funds under FDI.
- Firms and corporations can raise funds in the FDI quota approved by the government of India quickly through FIPB.
- The transparency maintained by the FIPB is an inflow of FDI funds is significant and proves credibility for the corporations.
- FIPB has launched many campaigns to globally advertise the FDI in the domestic sector and bridge the gap between firms and investors.
- The paperwork and regulations required for FIPB limit funds (Less than Rs 1200 crore) are less and easy to manage.
- FDI boosts the infrastructure and business of the sector it is going into.
- Local companies and players can access foreign markets and resources and optimize production's optimum cost.
Disadvantages
- One more layer of approval between the firms and the government agencies.
- The FIPB bought funds via FDI acts against the local investing opportunity, and local players cannot compete as the FDI funds come cheaply.
- The lock-in period is longer, but the economy's vulnerability increases with the increasing FDI.
- FDI funds coming into the economy harms the exchange rate of the local currency in the global market.
- More FDI funding leads to modern-day colonialism.
- Local players cannot compete with global players’ competency and caliber, which hinders the economy.
Conclusion
FIPB is a board managed by India’s government for approval of FDI funding to Rs 1200 crore. The board comprises representatives from different ministries to decide, control, and manage the optimum FDI level in each sector/industry. The board does in-depth research on each sector before deciding on the industry's permissible FDI level. The board also ensures to maintain the transparency and effectiveness of the inflow of funds into the economy. The Board was dissolved and replaced by the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP) by then Finance minister Arun Jaitley. The roles and responsibilities of FIPB are resumed by FIFP, saying the latter just contributed to one extra round of approval for FDI.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The FIPB is led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance's Department of Economic Affairs, whom Secretaries from DIPP, the Department of Commerce, Economic Relations, and the Ministry of External Affairs join.
The FIPB was moved to the Ministry of Finance's Department of Economic Affairs through a Presidential Order on January 30, 2003.
A company looking to establish a new collaboration in India must obtain FIPB approval. While they do not require explicit consent from RBI, they must notify them within 30 days of receiving foreign capital. It applies even if they already have existing collaborations in India.
The abolition of the FIPB aimed to improve the ease of doing business in India and attract foreign investment by streamlining and simplifying the approval process.
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