Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal: Bringing verified FDIs to Telecom

The FIFP, i.e., Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, is an inter-ministerial body acting as an authority establishing frameworks for the Foreign Direct Investment policies, FEMA regulations, and other notified government bodies. The Foreign Investment Approval is for companies that don’t qualify for the automatic approval of FDIs in India. For example, Telecom Enterprises come under the list of such non-qualified companies.

The actual goal of the FIFP web portal is to increase Foreign Direct Investment in the country. But this foreign funding must be within the regulatory registrations and overall oversight of the Union Government. Therefore, every non-qualified company needing Foreign Investment Approval must get it from the FIFP before the investment gets used up for operations in India. 

Foreign Investment Approval: Objectives

The following are the objectives of Foreign Investment Approvals in the country:

• Enhancement of the FDIs in India
• Creation of transparency between multiple government departments about the procedure of getting FIFP approval.
• Promotion of investment for national and international companies’ activities owned and operated by the Non-Resident Indians.
• Digitization of the FIFP approval process so that no data can be falsified or remain latent from the Government Authorities.
• Provision of information to all the investors about the volatile FDI policies that keep updating with the evolving Foreign Investment options. 

Required Documentation for Foreign Investment Approval

The authority responsible for the FIFP approval for the telecom sector is the DoT (Department of Telecommunication). To appease the DoT, the applicant must file the registration application along with the following documents:

• Details of the Telecom Company
• Written proposal justifying the company’s need for FDIs and funding
• Copy of Company’s Board Resolution
• Certificate of Incorporation of the applicant company
• Telecom License Agreement of the applicant company
• Memorandum and Articles of Association

Any of the following “conditional” documents:

• Copy of Shareholding Agreement
• Joint Venture Agreement
• Agreement for Transfer Of Technology
• Trademark Assignment Document
• Brand Assignment Document

Procedure for Foreign Investment Approval in India

The Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP) Approval process in the Telecom sector is detailed in the following steps:

1. Visit the FIFP portal.
2. Enter your login credentials. Make sure the entered details are free of errors and are valid.
3. Note down or remember the Login credentials.
4. Sign in to the FIFP web portal.
5. Select the industry you, as a FIFP approval applicant, belong to. For this particular case, it would be the Telecom sector.
6. Enter the required details and validate the entered details.
7. Submit the application online.

Within 10 days of filing the application, the applicant must submit a physical copy of the filed application along with the supporting documents to the Ministry of Telecommunications.

The DoT will access your application as well as documents as per its FIFP regulations. If the DoT finds any discrepancies in the application, it will inform the applicant. You’ll be granted the FIFP approval certificate if there are no mistakes.

FIFP Approval: Monitoring & Review

The Department of Telecommunications will review the pending Foreign Direct Investment proposals monthly. Also, the Secretary of the DPIIT will convene regular review meetings. The meetings will be conducted on the pendency of FDI proposals with the Department every four to six weeks. The Secretary of the DPIIT will also attend the said meeting.

The Department of Telecommunications must update the information as per the date of the physical receipt of the approval application and the said decisions taken on the FIFP portal. It must also furnish a fortnightly report on the pending proposals and maintain an updated database of all the FIFP proposals dealt with by Authorities.

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Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.