FIPB gives green signal to five retail proposals worth Rs 420 cr

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has the given a go-ahead to five retail

proposals worth Rs 420 crores. Companies like Puma SA, Bestseller and Flemingo are in the list. Two proposals among the said five were for multi-brand retail trading in duty free goods.

Dubai-based Flemingo International’s Rs 190 crores proposal to set up a fully owned subsidiary as well as a 49 percent investment in an Indian duty free company got a nod. The company is a global duty free and travel retail operator that first opened a store in the country in 2003. US-based Miami Perfume Junction’s Rs 10 crores proposal for incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary in India to sell duty free goods in airlines and run duty free shops at airports also got an approval.

While these companies are already have a presence in India either through franchises or local joint ventures, the FIPB approval would give them a further control of their India operations. The board also cleared three single-brand retail proposals worth Rs 222.5 crores that included German sportswear retailer Puma, Danish fashion wear company Bestseller and American soap retailer Lush. They received clearances to operate 100 percent company-owned retail operations in the country.

Earlier, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) set a maximum deadline of 90 days to take action on all FDI applications pending with it under single-brand retail. According to the industry insiders, as many as 13 applications including that of from foreign retailers like Forever 21, Furla and Swarovski, to open single-brand company-owned stores in the country are pending with the DIPP for over a several months now. With the new time frame set by the body, it is expected to process and forward all complete and compliant applications to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) within 20 days for clearance.