Question : PRAVASI BHARTIYA DIWAS

(a) whether Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas 2007 was held in New Delhi during the first week of January, 2007;

(b) if so, the delegates participated in the conference in comparison to the previous year i.e. 2006 and the reasons for the difference thereto;

(c) the details of issues discussed in the conference and the outcome thereof;

(d) the main concern shown by the Pravasi Bharatiyas in regard to investment and local aid etc.;

(e) whether the Government has announced more concessions and facilities to Pravasi Bhartiyas to attract more investment in the country from them;

(f) if so, the details thereof; and

(g) the facilities likely to be provided by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS (SHRI VAYALAR RAVI)

(a) & (b) : Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2007 was held in New Delhi from 7-9 January, 2007. 1094 paid delegates attended the Conference as compared to 916 paid delegates who attended Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2006 held from 7-9 January, 2006 at Hyderabad.

(c) : Focus areas of the conference were health, youth, education, healthcare, women, investment, technology, media, etc.

(d) to (g) : Government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for investment from overseas Indians. Most of the sectors are open to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under automatic route. Under FDI policy the facilities available to overseas Indians are enclosed at Annexure-I.

Annexure – I

Annexure referred to in Statement of Facts in respect of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1251 for 7.3.2007 regarding ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’

1. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) can invest upto 100% under the automatic route in the Housing and Real Estate Development for the following activities.

# Development of serviced plots and construction of built up residential premises;
# Investment in real estate covering construction of residential and commercial premises including business centers and offices;
# Development of townships;
# City and regional level urban infrastructure facilities, including roads and bridges;
# Investment in participatory ventures in the above activities;
# Investment in housing finance institutions.

2. NRIs can invest upto 100% in Indian companies engaged in Air Taxi Operation. (For foreign companies Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permitted only up to 49%)

Other facilities for NRI
In addition to the investments under the FDI policy, NRIs can also invest under other schemes under various Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) Regulations in the following activities/Sectors:

# Mutual Funds.
# Investment in PSU Bonds.
# Investments up to 100% equity in proprietary/ partnership concerns, except in agricultural/plantation activity or real estate business. (Foreign companies are not allowed to invest in partnership firms/ proprietary concerns).
# Portfolio Investment Schemes: NRIs are permitted to invest in shares and debentures through secondary market purchase from the stock exchanges under the portfolio scheme. Investment limit are 5 % and 10% respectively. These limits are over and above the Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) portfolio investment limits so as to ensure that NRI investment are not crowded out by FIIs.
# NRIs can acquire immovable property, other than agricultural land/ plantation property / farm house and transfer such property to a resident, another NRI.