India to raise FDI cap in telecom sector
The Indian government is likely to raise the foreign direct investment cap in the telecom sector to 74 per cent from 49 per cent in its annual Budget on Friday, industry officials said, according to Reuters.
They said Finance Minister Jaswant Singh could declare a cut in customs duties on telecoms equipment and mobile handsets in the 2003/ 04 (April-March) Budget.
Telecom firms have urged the government to remove customs duties on telecom equipment such as base stations and switches from five per cent to help cut infrastructure costs.
In addition to the five per cent customs duty, phone companies also shell out a countervailing duty of 16 per cent on equipment. (Worlditreport.com)
C 2003 All rights reserved. World IT Report
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
