Oct. 21 – The Indian government has decided to allow foreign investors full ownership of firms providing tele-conferencing and web-conferencing services, where previously foreign companies were allowed to hold only up to 74 percent.

The Economic Times reports that India has decided to allow full foreign ownership in one of the growing sub-sectors of the country’s flourishing telecommunications industry. The decision will benefit New York Stock Exchange-listed communication company, Premiere Global Services, which provides group communication services such as investor relation calls and training seminars through software connected to their customer’s IT system.

However, to invest in this sector, foreign companies will have to get prior permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) – an inter-ministerial body that clears cross-border investment into India – and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that deals with the country’s internal security.

Foreign investment proposals in the telecommunication sector above 49 percent will need to go through with FIPB because of its strategic importance to India’s security. For those companies investing up to 49 percent in Indian telecommunications companies, they do not need to go to the  FIPB and only need to inform the Reserve Bank of India after bringing in funds.