The government of India has decided to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in various sectors including digital media and liberalizing rules for single-branded retail to boost investment in private sector. It also allowed FDI in coal mining and contract manufacturing with a view to “making India a more attractive FDI destination, leading to benefits of increased investments, employment and growth”.

The decision was taken at the regular cabinet meeting held yesterday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the chair, official sources said. The decision for easing the FDI norms came days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced various steps to give a boost to the sluggish economy. “The changes in FDI policy will result in making India a more attractive FDI destination, leading to benefits of increased investments, employment and growth,” Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters after the meeting

The minister said the easing and simplification of the norms will boost employment as he claimed that the last financial year had witnessed the largest FDI inflow. “We see an opportunity to make India a manufacturing hub,” he added. It has been decided to permit 26 per cent FDI in the digital media space paving the way for existing and prospective digital media platforms to seek foreign funding. It is for the first time digital media has been brought under the purview of FDI guidelines.