New Delhi: Investigation into whether US giant Walmart may have bribed Indian officials to gain wider access to the country's vast market has been closed due to lack of evidence, sources said on Sunday. Corporate Affairs Ministry has confirmed and said no evidence of lobbying was found.
The one-man committee of Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal probing the matter had submitted a report to the government next week saying there was no 'adequate' evidence to suggest Walmart was involved in any unlawful activity in India, the Business Standard reported, quoting unnamed sources.
A committee looking into Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India on Saturday submitted its report to Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot. Mudgal who headed the panel set up to look into lobbying activities by Walmart, submitted the report to Pilot at his residence.
With Additional Inputs from PTI...
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05:59 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: A committee looking into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India today submitted its report to Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot. Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal who headed the panel set up to look into lobbying activities by Walmart, submitted the report to Pilot at his residence. No details of the report were immediately available. ...
07:35 PM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The panel looking into retail major Walmart's lobbying activities with American lawmakers for its entry into the Indian market is likely to submit its report to the government in a day or two. The one-man committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal, has finalised the report. Sources said the report is expected to be submitted to the government "this week". The...
02:20 PM, May 18, 2013
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh BJP, which has been opposing FDI in retail, on Saturday said it would not allow foreign stores like Walmart into the state "Foreign chains like Walmart and Metro Cash and Carry will not be allowed to enter Himachal and the interests of small traders will be fully safeguarded," state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti said. He was reacting to Civil Supplies minister GS Bali's announcement to...
01:53 AM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said it has cleared 17 foreign direct investment proposals totalling Rs 262.56 crore, including that of Sanofi-Synthelabo (India). The proposals were cleared following recommendations by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) headed by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, an official statement said. Sanofi-Synthelabo's proposal was regarding acquisition of a pharma company through internal accruals. The company proposes to bring in FDI worth Rs...
08:55 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Daily disruptions and ruckus inside Parliament - that Vice President Hamid Ansari said has been described as "competitive hooliganism" - have become routine and both the government and opposition blame each other for it, but experts say it is a negation of democracy and probably a way to get media coverage. "The way parliament has been functioning, it is a total negation of democracy," Jagdeep Chhokar, a retired...
06:10 PM, May 07, 2013
Mumbai: Hong-Kong entrepreneur Ramesh Tainwala spent 18 months operating branded clothing retail stores in India before deciding it was impossible to succeed without paying bribes. Tainwala, a 55-year-old expatriate Indian, owns Planet Retail, which held the India franchise rights for US fashion labels Guess and Nautica as well as UK retailers Next and Debenhams. He sold the brands last September to various Indian businesses. "Right now it's not possible to...
12:37 PM, May 05, 2013
New Delhi: Describing the decision on 49 per cent FDI in aviation as one which will transform the sector, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Friday the government envisages investment of $12.1 billion in the sector in the 12th Plan period (2012-2016). Singh said the rapidly expanding air transport network and opening up of infrastructure to the private sector have fuelled the growth of air traffic in India. "Indian...
05:57 AM, May 04, 2013
New Delhi: The government on Thursday allowed Swedish furniture major IKEA to invest Rs 10,500 crore - the biggest ever FDI proposal in single brand retail - for setting up home furnishing stores in the country. "Whatever proposal of IKEA was there has been cleared," Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters after the application was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan...
09:30 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: Rejecting the Defence Ministry's view on foreign direct investment, a Parliamentary committee has recommended enhancement in FDI limit to attract foreign companies as it would benefit the Indian defence sector in the long run and save precious foreign exchange. The Standing Committee on Defence took note of the divergent views within the Ministry over the issue. While the Department of Defence Production opposes FDI, the DRDO favours it,...
02:45 AM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Describing the over Rs 2,000 crore business proposal between Jet and Etihad airlines as a win-win deal, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today said it will be beneficial for flyers. In the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) deal after India opened up the aviation sector, Jet Airways will sell a 24 per cent stake to Etihad Airways in a $379 million (Rs 2,058 crore) deal. "It is a...
04:42 PM, Apr 25, 2013
New Delhi: Committing to carry forward the economic reforms programme in the remaining term of UPA-II, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the government will take more executive actions in the next two to four months and sought cooperation of the main opposition party to push through important bills in Parliament. Ruling out early elections, the Minister said the government would last for 13 months more and would continue...
12:15 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Washington: Walmart continued to lobby with the American lawmakers over Indian retail FDI rules during the first quarter of 2013, even as a probe is underway into the global retail giant's US lobbying activities for facilitating its India entry. In its latest lobbying disclosure report filed with the US Senate and the House of Representatives for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, the various lobbying issues of Walmart during the...
03:40 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: The government-appointed probe panel, which is looking into Walmart's lobbying with the US lawmakers for facilitating India entry, on Thursday got a one-month extension in its tenure till May-end. The one-man inquiry committee, which was set up by the government in January 2013, was earlier asked to submit its report by end of April, but the probe will take more time as fresh details have been sought from...
11:40 PM, Apr 18, 2013
New Delhi: Talking about economic reforms, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday came out strongly in support of privatisation while addressing the first Think India Dialogue of Network18. Modi, however, opposed FDI in retail and defence, but backs foreign investment in other sectors and said government's role must be of facilitator in land acquisition. Modi said he favours privatisation but wanted to test the new model in Gujarat without...
07:49 PM, Apr 08, 2013
New Delhi: Advocating an open set of rules for overseas investors, NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has said that India should just specify the level of permitted foreign investment in each sector and let the companies accordingly invest without any individual approval procedures. Terming the current economic problems as a course correction and a passing phase, he also said that India's economic growth prospects remain intact and the country needs...
12:56 PM, Apr 08, 2013
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11:42 PM, Apr 03, 2013
A visiting US Parliamentarians' delegation on Tuesday met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and discussed a host of issues, including elections and FDI in infrastructure development in India. The US delegation led by Aaron Schock from the state of Illinois, which met the BJP leader at her parliament office, also discussed history of Punjab and Haryana and environment- related issues, the party members said. ...
03:15 AM, Apr 03, 2013
Finance Minister P Chidambaram suggested on Tuesday that the government is unlikely to raise the import tax on gold further to avoid gold smuggling and would instead introduce inflation-indexed instruments to help curb a record current account deficit. ...
12:44 PM, Apr 02, 2013
India's economy is capable of absorbing $50 billion in foreign direct investment per year, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday. Addressing a news conference during a visit to Tokyo promoting India as investment destination, Chidambaram also reiterated that growth in Asia's third-largest economy was expected to accelerate in the current fiscal year to March 2014. ...
02:25 PM, Apr 01, 2013
