Foreign Direct Investment in Indian Banking Sector
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is defined as “investment made to acquire lasting interest in enterprises operating outside of the economy of the investor.” The FDI relationship consists of a parent enterprise and a foreign affiliate which together form a Multinational corporation (MNC). In order to qualify as FDI the investment must afford the parent enterprise control over its foreign affiliate. The UN defines control in this case as owning 10% or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an incorporated firm or its equivalent for an unincorporated firm; lower ownership shares are known as portfolio investment. Indian federal government has opened up the banking sector for foreign investors raising the ceiling of foreign direct investment in the Indian private sector banks to 49 percent. However, the ceiling of FDI in the country’s public sector banks remains unchanged at 20 percent. Foreign banks having branches in India are also Continue reading