Context:
PMO asks Union Ministry of Commerce to examine Model text of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
Bilateral Investment Treaty:
- Bilateral Investment Treaty – It is a reciprocal agreement for according protection to investments by nationals and companies of one State in another State.
- Model text of BIT – Union Cabinet adopted new Model BIT text in 2015
- Features of Model BIT 2015 –
- “Enterprise” based definition of investment.
- Contains a negative list, which precludes portfolio investments, interest in debt- securities, intangible rights, etc. from the definition of investment.
- Protection from expropriation (limiting each country’s ability to take over foreign investments in its territory)
- Voluntary incorporation of internationally recognized standards of CSR by enterprises operating within territory of each Party.
- Exhaust local remedies before commencing international arbitration.
India’s BITs:
- India’s 1st Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) – With the United Kingdom in 1994.
- As of 2015, India had signed BITs with 83 countries (of which 74 were in force).
- Since the release of the model BIT in 2016, India has signed only 4 BITs with Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, and Brazil.
- The Government is negotiating with 37 countries/blocks, and has terminated its older BITs with 77 countries
Source: The Economic Times
Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. It is an organ of NITI Aayog.
2. It has a corpus of ` 4, 00,000 crore at present.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2017 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (d)
Explanation:
Statement 1 is not correct. ‘National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’ was set up under SEBI.
Statement 2 is not correct. It has a corpus of 40000 crore.
