Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the Union finance ministry to prevent foreign investors from side-stepping foreign investment norms by taking recourse to the venture capital (VC) route. With increasing concerns of foreign capital driving up real estate prices, RBI has recommended that foreign venture capital investments (FVCIs) be restricted to nine sectors (investment in other sectors being treated as foreign direct investment). It has suggested that capital market regulator SEBI set up a screening mechanism for all pending and future FVCI proposals. The new set of restrictions will help prevent low capital base, circumvention of takeover guidelines and round-tripping of investments. Out of 58 FVCI applications pending with RBI, 22 are considered to have low capital base. […]