The Indian government has approved 21 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth 849 million rupees (17 million U.S. dollars), said Indian Finance Ministry officials on Thursday.

A proposal by Germany-based BASF SE, the world's largest chemical company to make an open offer for acquiring a 20 percent stake in chemical manufacturer Ciba India, has also been cleared which may bring in 630 million rupees (12.6 million U.S. dollars) to the country, said the officials.

Meanwhile, the government has deferred 14 proposals including that of Vijay Mallya-run United Breweries to raise 7.08 billion rupees through issuing convertible warrants, said the officials.

A proposal by venture fund India Rizing Fund to reconsider its application to set up a fund for the Indian defense sector in the light of new norms for FDI calculation was also deferred.

As many as seven proposals, including those of three telecom majors, Bharti Telemedia, Tata Teleservices and NTT Docomo, were rejected by the government.

By acquiring stakes in Ciba Holding AG , BASF will manufacture and trade in specialty chemicals.

The Government also gave the nod to Vodafone Essar, the second-largest GSM operator, to hive off its towers and related infrastructure into a separate arm Ortus Infratel.

Earlier, Vodafone Essar's plans to create Ortus Infratel was deferred after the revenue department had raised concerns over the company's application.

The Government cleared the proposal by venture capital fund -- Ventureast Trustee Company Ltd -- to accept contributions up to 2 million U.S. dollars from Mauritius-based Ventureast Proactive Fund.

Source: Xinhua