Before, the foreign direct investment proposals were approved by the Foreign Investment Promotions Board, which is now abolished and now it is approved by the commerce and industry ministry.
Currently, the government has allowed 100% FDI in the food processing sector which means any foreign company can open its wholly owned subsidiary and retail food products produced or manufactured in the country.
The government had received proposals worth USD 695 million in the retail of food products from three giants – Amazon, Grofers, and BigBasket.
The government has approved Amazon’s USD 500 million proposals for retailing of food products online in India, while Grofers and BigBasket are already into online grocery space.
Amazon will be opening its wholly owned subsidiary in India to stock food products and sell it online.