The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has given the go-ahead to the much-discussed Rs 2,038 crore Jet-Etihad deal, a month after the initial share purchase agreement between the two airlines was sent back to them with the directive to modify it to fit the Indian regulatory parameters.
The revised share purchase agreement was approved on Monday (July 29). Regulatory agencies such as FIPB can now argue that the Indian company (that is Jet Airways) will retain control, so that the existing policy on foreign direct investment in aviation is followed, or at least appears to have been followed. The deal with FIPB's recommendations (changes pertaining to legal and shareholding issues) is now sent back to Jet Airways and after they accept the changes and modify the agreement the deal will require an approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
But the fact of the matter is that the deal would never have been called off. Three central ministries - Civil Aviation, Commerce and Home - were doing their best to facilitate the deal. There was a strong compulsion to see it through given existing market conditions, foreign institutional investors withdrawing in droves and the overall dismal economic performance of the government.
30/07/13 Business Today
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
The revised share purchase agreement was approved on Monday (July 29). Regulatory agencies such as FIPB can now argue that the Indian company (that is Jet Airways) will retain control, so that the existing policy on foreign direct investment in aviation is followed, or at least appears to have been followed. The deal with FIPB's recommendations (changes pertaining to legal and shareholding issues) is now sent back to Jet Airways and after they accept the changes and modify the agreement the deal will require an approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
But the fact of the matter is that the deal would never have been called off. Three central ministries - Civil Aviation, Commerce and Home - were doing their best to facilitate the deal. There was a strong compulsion to see it through given existing market conditions, foreign institutional investors withdrawing in droves and the overall dismal economic performance of the government.
30/07/13 Business Today
