Directions: In the following passage ten blanks are left out labeled with letters A, B, C and so on. You have to choose a set of words that is correct grammatically and contextually in order to fill the blank.
The Union Cabinet has approved a series of changes in foreign direct investment norms as the government prepares to enter the last lap of its economic policy-setting phase ahead of the 2019 election. Key among these was the decision to __ A __ up to 49% overseas ownership, including by a foreign airline, in Air India. This comes just a little more than six months after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod for a strategic __ B __ of the airline. The relaxation in ownership norms clears the decks for possible bidders such as the Singapore Airlines-Tata combine and Jet Airways — with its overseas equity and route partners — to make a more detailed commercial __ C __ of the investment opportunity the state-owned flag carrier presents. For the fiscally constrained government, the __ D __ couldn’t have come sooner. With the Union Budget due soon and the government __ E __ short of its budgeted strategic disinvestment goal for the current financial year — as of end-November, only 28% of the targeted ?15,000 crore had been realised — the hope must be for an __ F __ timetable for the stake sale. Still, the fulfillment of a necessary condition for a strategic sale doesn’t automatically become sufficient grounds for a successful privatisation. Given the carrier’s accumulated debt of about ?50,000 crore and the fact that the interest of potential investors is likely to be focused on Air India’s __ G __ long-haul international routes and its fleet of more than 40 wide-bodied aircraft, disinvestment will be neither easy nor guaranteed. At the very least, the government needs to set a distinct, __ H __ road map for the sale process.
The other reform cleared by the Cabinet was the __ I__ decision to put 100% FDI in Single Brand Retail Trading under the ‘automatic’ route, accompanied by the long-sought relaxation of mandatory local sourcing norms. This had been a major issue with potential investors including Apple, which had repeatedly urged the government to take a more __ J __ view given the level of technological advancement incorporated in its products and the difficulty in finding local sources of supply at the requisite scale.