No changes in FDI policy for Pakistan, China and other countries sharing land border with India: Sources

The government has not made any amendments to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for countries sharing land border with India, sources said on Wednesday.

In 2020, the government issued Press Note 3 under which investors from these land bordering countries have to mandatorily take prior approval of the government for making investments in any sector.

The Press Note 3 is applicable to all the land bordering countries of India in an equal manner, the sources said. The countries are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

All FDI proposals from these nations undergo the similar process of scrutiny and examination as per standard operating procedure for the processing of investment proposals from these nations.

"After issuance of this press note, no amendment has been undertaken in the FDI policy relating to investments from countries sharing land border with India," a source said.

These remarks are important as certain reports have stated that the approval process for FDI applications from China has been streamlined.

At present, there is an inter-ministerial committee headed by the Home Secretary to consider applications under Press Note 3.

The bulk of FDI coming into India falls under the automatic approval route.