India invests in a meeting
The Tobacco Board of India hosted the ambassador to the Czech Republic of its homeland. V. Ashok had come to the Incheba exhibition floor to officially “open” the board’s stand and discuss the importance of tobacco as an Indian agricultural export.
India’s Commerce and Industry Ministry is due on April 11 to convene a meeting of all stakeholders, including farmer associations, private companies and government departments, to discuss foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tobacco sector, according to a Press Trust of India story published by Bloomberg.
Currently, FDI is prohibited in respect of the manufacturing of cigars, cigarettes and tobacco substitutes. However, it is permitted within the tobacco sector in respect of technology collaboration in any form, including licensing for franchises, trademarks, brand names and management contracts.
The meeting assumes significance because, in 2016, the Ministry’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion floated a proposal to put a complete ban on FDI in the tobacco sector.
The government did not make a decision on the matter due to concerns raised by companies and tobacco farmers’ associations.
The meeting is expected to be attended by officials from government departments as well as local and overseas tobacco farmers’ associations, tobacco companies and business groups.
The Bloomberg story is at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/2018/04/08/dipp-calls-meeting-of-stakeholders-on-fdi-in-tobacco-sector.
