India saw foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $341.49 million in the drugs and pharmaceuticals sector between April 2009 and February 2012, the Government said on Monday.

At present, the Government allows 100 per cent FDI for both greenfield and existing projects in these sectors, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

However, the Ministry had not maintained a comprehensive data with regard to acquisition of pharmaceutical companies by multinational players, he added.

Policy changes

Mr Scindia said there was no proposal to make policy changes with regards to FDI in oil and gas exploration, petroleum refining, micro, small and medium enterprises. Policy changes related to FDI are reviewed continuously to make it more investor-friendly, he added.

The Government had liberalised investments made by registered Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) from April 10, 2012. Earlier, these investments required approval from the Government.

Till April 10, 2012 conversion to equity was permitted for import of capital goods machinery or equipment, including second-hand machinery.

“With a view to incentivising machinery embodying state-of-the-art technology, second-hand machinery has been excluded from the purview of this provision,” the Government statement said.

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