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High-level panel on patent laws

The central government has constituted a high-level committee of scientists to work out suitable amendments to the existing patent laws to protect the vast flora and fauna of the country.

Industry Minister Sikander Bakht has told the Lok Sabha that 70 per cent of the geographical area of the country has been surveyed so far by the Botanical Survey of India and the Geographical Survey of India.

Based on these surveys, over 46,000 species of plants and 81,000 species of animals had been identified.

Foreign direct investment: The total approved amount of foreign direct investment from August 1992 to March 1997 is Rs 1136.54 billion and the actual inflow during the corresponding period is Rs 233.06 billion, Bakht said.

The actual investment as a percentage of the approved amount from August 1992 to March 1997 is 20.5 per cent.

The realisation rate (inflows to approval ratio) in FDI varies from sector to sector.

Whereas in certain sectors such as electronics (including computer software), transportation and services the realisation rates have been around 30 to 40 per cent, the same has been below 10 per cent in certain other sectors like power and telecommunications, which account for nearly 50 per cent of the total approved amount.

The time lag in inflows against mega projects is usually longer because of several factors that are external to the basic FDI regime such as acquisition of land, obtaining various statutory clearances, typing up funding arrangements, etc which are time-consuming.

Besides international factors such as global market conditions and trade fundamentals, which determine major investment decisions, are also responsible to some extent, he pointed out.

UNI