Anuradha Thakur, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. File
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
The government is considering how to revise provisions of Press Note 3, which places additional clearances on investment coming from China, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur told The Hindu in an interview, adding that this was not specifically part of the pre-Budget discussions.
Press Note 3, issued in 2020, specified that any entity of a country that shared a land border with India can invest in the country only after securing Government approval. Earlier, this rule had applied only to entities in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The revised rules expanded the curbs to include investments from China, Bhutan, and Nepal.
Discussions are ongoing
“In the Department of Economic Affairs and here [the Ministry of Finance], no discussion on Press Note 3 has happened here,” Ms. Thakur said. “In the larger part of government, that is a discussion which is ongoing.”
“The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) handles it and we let them handle it,” she added. “I think discussions are ongoing about how to deal with that. In one sense, investments are not restricted. There is only an additional layer of checks that is happening as a consequence of the Press Note 3.”
The Secretary added that, in her experience in the Ministry of Finance, the existing mechanism works “quite efficiently so far, but there is merit in the idea of revisiting it”.
Easing investments into India
On the larger issue of foreign investments, Ms. Thakur pointed out that the government was seeking to address the fact that net foreign direct investment in the country had been negative for a few months now by trying to encourage investments in India.
“The way that we are institutionally looking at this is to see what are the reforms that we can make to make it easier for people to invest here,” she said. “One of the small things in the Budget is the announcement regarding the person’s residence outside India. The route that was earlier available only to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), the portfolio investment scheme route, has been liberalised and that route is now available to all persons resident outside India.”
She added that the government hoped that this would not only encourage NRIs and OCIs to invest in Indian companies, but also foreign nations who are interested in increasing their equity stake in India.
Regarding the fact that capital outflows are currently overshadowing inflows, Ms. Thakur also said that “making it easier for companies to repatriate what they earn here is also a part of ease of doing business, which is a part of what is playing out now”.
Published – February 02, 2026 09:19 pm IST
