India approved on Thursday a proposal by Europe's biggest tyre maker, Michelin, to pick up a 14.9 percent stake in Indian tyre-maker Apollo Tyres Ltd for $71.44 million.
A government statement said the investment by Michelin would be used to manufacture, market and distribute truck and bus radial tyres in India.
Earlier in November, both firms had said they would also set up a joint venture to make truck and bus radial tyres, Michelin Apollo Tyre Ltd, in which Michelin would hold 51 percent and Apollo the rest.
Apollo has almost a quarter of India's tyre market.
Truck and bus tyres account for more than 70 percent of India's $2.2-billion tyre industry but less than two percent of tyres are radials. But radials make up more than 75 percent of car tyre sales.
The government also cleared a 925-million-rupee proposal by Britain's HSBC Holdings Plc to acquire a stake in UTI Bank.