A government which had made it its habit to announce big policy reforms to attract foreign investors, on 17 April took what could possibly go down as one of its boldest foreign policy decisions yet.
By issuing Press Note 3 of 2020 (Press Note), the Narendra Modi government has made all foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a “land border" with India subject to prior government approval.
Previously, apart from investment in select sectors, the requirement for such prior approval arose only for investments originating from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
While the intent to prevent “opportunistic" investment from Chinese sources in our domestic market—which has seen asset values fall sharply—is clear, the government’s move has