India mulls lifting FDI approval ceiling to Rs 15,000 crore

According to insiders, the Indian government is considering a revision of the foreign direct investment (FDI) rule that mandates Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approval for projects exceeding Rs 5,000 crore, proposing to raise the limit to Rs 15,000 crore. The move aims to reflect larger capital inflows, address inflationary pressures, and support the administration's ease-of-doing-business agenda by letting sectoral ministries handle more proposals directly.

The CCEA, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and including the home and finance ministers, has not altered the threshold since November 2015. A secretaries' panel had earlier suggested the adjustment. In parallel, the government plans to simplify downstream investment approvals, allowing Indian firms that have already secured permission at a higher ownership level to receive indirect foreign funds without fresh clearance, except in sectors that still require government approval or involve bordering nations. Cumulative FDI into India has surpassed $1.16 trillion since 2000, with major contributors such as Mauritius, Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and the UAE.