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Real estate, insurance, atomic energy, drugs not open for foreign investors, says Bakht

Despite its liberal approach towards foreign direct investments, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will not open up sensitive sectors like real estate, insurance, atomic energy, drugs and pharmaceuticals to foreign investors, Industry Minister Sikander Bakht said.

''These are sensitive and strategic sectors relating to national security and scientific subjects. So, we want to keep it away from foreign investments,'' Bakht said in an interview.

The government is proposing to open the insurance sector only to domestic private sector operators but not to foreign investors, Bakht added.

The government, he said, has adopted a conscious policy for speedy clearance of foreign investment proposals to send out right signals to foreign investors. ''It has been decided that an application has to be cleared within 90 days as announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.''

The minister further stated that the government is also widening the area of automatic approvals for foreign direct investments by including roads, ports and high technology fields in the list. Power projects have already been included in the list.

''We are working on expanding the automatic approval list to ensure that there are very few restrictions on foreign investors in infrastructure sectors like ports, roads and airports. We need to encourage foreign investment in infrastructure and high technology areas. But the high technology areas, including bio-technology, need to be tackled with an eye on patent laws,'' he added.

Besides, the government is also exploring other areas which can be included in the list.

Government guidelines, at present, allow FDI proposals to go through automatic approval up to the specified equity cap of 50 per cent, 51 per cent and 74 per cent, according to the sector concerned.

According to Bakht, allowing automatic approvals has also been aimed at reducing the bureaucratic hurdles in the path of FDI inflow. ''This would attract more investments into the country.''

Riding on these initiatives, the government is targeting a high industrial growth rate of eight per cent for the 1998-99 fiscal. During April 1998, industrial production grew by 6.3 per cent. In sectors like electricity and manufacturing, this period recorded a 6.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent growth rate as against the rates in April 1997.

High growth rate was recorded in metal products and parts, beverages, tobacco products, transport equipment and parts, non-metallic mineral products and wool while the industry showed a negative growth in wood products, cotton textiles, food products and jute.

''We are now aiming at growth in all sectors,'' the minister added.

UNI