Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Aerospace and Punj Lloyd bag defence deals

A small change in foreign investment rules-by doing away with minimum 51% holding by a single Indian entity in a defence venture-has helped Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Aerospace and Punj Lloyd bag licences that they had been waiting for. While increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap for defence to 49%, the government did away with the clause that had been in the policy for years, as part of a strategy to attract investment in local manufacturing units. In special cases, 100% FDI has been allowed. The earlier rule did not allow Reliance Aerospace to get the licences to manufacture weapon launchers for combat aircraft as the promoters hold 45.3% in Reliance Industries. Similarly,the promoters of Punj Lloyd together have a 37% stake, which restricted a wholly owned subsidiary's ability to bag licences to manufacture torpedoes, rocket launchers and combat vehicle, sources familiar with the development told TOI.