New foreign investment norms to increase inflow: Kamal Nath

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - National highways in India will be renumbered so that they reflect a scientific pattern, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. Today is the 100th day of my government in India, so I can announce it: we are renumbering our national highways, Kamal Nath told reporters.

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - Parts of the agreement spelling out the policy and regulatory framework for foreign investment into India's roads infrastructure will be changed by the end of September to meet investor concerns, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath announced here Tuesday. There have been concerns about some aspects of our Model Concession Agreement (MCA).

August 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath said on Friday that the country has enough foodgrain reserves even in the worst monsoon situation. Nath, however, expressed his concern over the adverse impact of poor monsoon on agricultural activity.

July 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in the first two months this fiscal touched $4.43 billion even as the world was embroiled in a financial crisis, the government said Wednesday. "Despite the economic slowdown, FDI inflow showed a growth of 11 percent to $27.31 billion in 2008-09 compared to $24.58 billion in the previous fiscal," a government statement said.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Funding will not be a problem as India gets ready to execute over 150 projects worth some $70 billion to spruce up its network of highways and roads in the next three years, said Road, Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath here Wednesday. The minister, who is personally overseeing all road shows to attract money for one of the country's largest public-private initiatives on roads and highways, said speedy development of this infrastructure was a priority for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A separate authority will be constituted soon for expediting development of expressways, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. I am examining the possibility of setting up an expressway authority, Kamal Nath said at a conclave on national highways.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Transport Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday that the government wants foreign investors to fund as much as half of the 20 billion dollars, which it has earmarked for road building in a year. Kamal Nath said he has plans to meet with investors from Europe, the United States and Asia, including Hong Kong and Singapore, in the next two or three months to discuss which financing platforms would be most effective.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath Friday said regulations covering India's road network will be overhauled even as he promised to change the physical landscape of the country's transport infrastructure in due time. "We need to look at the old regulatory framework in an entirely new way and that will call for a complete change of mindset.

May 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress-led coalition government at the centre may not offer any further fiscal stimulus as the mounting fiscal deficit has left little room for more such measures, a senior cabinet minister said here Monday. I don't know whether the fiscal deficit we have has left any room for another stimulus...

May 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress leader Kamal Nath unwittingly injected humour into the sombre swearing-in ceremony of the new government Friday when he began to take his oath before President Pratibha Patil could prompt him, and then started walking off without signing the register. Perhaps a little too eager to be sworn in as minister, Kamal Nath walked up and said in Hindi 'Main Kamal Nath' much to the amusement of the gathering at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Tuesday notified the detailed norms on what constitutes foreign equity in companies that operate in sectors with a cap on overseas investment, after the cabinet rationalised the procedures last week to attract more foreign capital. A press note issued by the commerce ministry says foreign investment of any form in a holding company - equity, preference shares, investments by foreign funds, convertible bonds, American depository shares or global depository receipts - will be considered foreign equity.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The new foreign investment norms will not extend backdoor entry for foreign retailers, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said Friday, defending the clause that does not count minority overseas stake in a holding company as foreign equity. The minister said there was no change in India's retail trade policy that permitted foreign equity only for single-brand companies and cash and carry wholesale businesses.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has rationalised the foreign investment norms as there is a tightening in the global markets, but the cap on such investments in single-brand retail would continue, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Thursday. 'The government has rationalised calculation of FDI (foreign direct investment).

January 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 'disciplined' private sector and an 'aspiring' middle class are the engines of India's economic growth, and will help the country weather the tumultuous times, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said Saturday. 'India's aspiring middle class has demonstrated surprising resilience in counterbalancing the global credit crisis and slump in the global export economy of which India is a key player,' the minister said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath Thursday expressed hope that India's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 7-8 percent in 2008-09 and said the country's recovery from the financial crisis will be 'faster than the rest of the world'. Speaking at the breakfast session of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in World Economic Forum in Davos, Kamal Nath said the GDP growth in real terms in the first half this fiscal has been 7.8 percent, which is fairly 'robust', an official statement released here said.