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Friday, January 05, 2007
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday approved 20 foreign direct investment proposals worth 27.92 billion rupees including one in telecoms firm Idea Cellular Ltd, a government statement said.
A clutch of foreign investors, venture capital funds and financial institutions obtained permission to invest 25 billion rupees in Idea Cellular, controlled by the diversified Aditya Birla group.
Foreign investors' stakes in the company would go up to 74 per cent from the present 47.55 per cent, the statement said, but did not give names of the investors.
Last month, the company said it planned to raise up to 28.75 billion rupees through an initial public offering and planned a pre-IPO private placement to a few institutions.
Idea, founded in 1995 as Birla Communications Ltd., has undergone many changes in shareholding with AT&T Communications Ltd. and the Tata family selling their stakes at different periods, leaving the controlling stake with the Birlas.
The government also allowed Barclays Capital Securities Asia Ltd, a subsidiary of Barclays Plc, to pick up 9.63 per cent in Asset Reconstruction Company of India for 212 million rupees.
South Korean auto parts maker Daerim Enterprise got the green light to invest 600 million rupees for setting up a wholly-owned venture in India.
Source: Reuters
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