The routes under which foreign investment can be made is as under:
- Automatic Route: Foreign Investment is allowed under the automatic route without prior approval of the Government or the Reserve Bank of India, in all activities/ sectors as specified in the Regulation 16 of FEMA 20 (R).
- Government Route: Foreign investment in activities not covered under the automatic route requires prior approval of the Government. Procedure for applying for Government approval is given at http://fifp.gov.in/Forms/SOP.pdf
What are the Capital instruments permitted for receiving foreign investment in an Indian company
‘Capital Instruments’ means equity shares, debentures, preference shares and share warrants issued by the Indian company.
Equity shares: Equity shares are those issued in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and will include partly paid equity shares issued on or after July 8, 2014.
Share warrants: Share warrants issued on or after July 8, 2014 will be considered as capital instruments.
Debentures: ‘Debentures’ means fully, compulsorily and mandatorily convertible debentures.
Preference shares: ‘Preference’ shares means fully, compulsorily and mandatorily convertible preference shares.
Non-convertible/ optionally convertible/ partially convertible preference shares issued as on and up to April 30, 2007 and optionally convertible/ partially convertible debentures issued up to June 7, 2007 till their original maturity are reckoned to be FDI compliant capital instruments. Non-convertible/ optionally convertible/ partially convertible preference shares issued after April 30, 2007 and optionally convertible/ partially convertible debentures issued after June 7, 2007 shall be treated as debt and shall require conforming to External Commercial Borrowings guidelines regulated under Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending in Foreign Exchange Regulations), 2000, as amended from time to time.
What is meant by Foreign Investment, Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment?
Foreign Investment means any investment made by a person resident outside India on a repatriable basis in capital instruments of an Indian company or to the capital of an LLP.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the investment through capital instruments by a person resident outside India (a) in an unlisted Indian company; or (b) in 10 percent or more of the post issue paid-up equity capital on a fully diluted basis of a listed Indian company.
Foreign Portfolio Investment is any investment made by a person resident outside India in capital instruments where such investment is (a) less than 10 percent of the post issue paid-up equity capital on a fully diluted basis of a listed Indian company or (b) less than 10 percent of the paid up value of each series of capital instruments of a listed Indian company.
Source : https://www.rbi.org.in (FAQ issued by RBI )
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