Brussels, 26/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved investment aid amounting to EUR 35.42 million in favour of European Optic Media Technology GmbH, a subsidiary of Moser Baer India Ltd, a company based in New Delhi, India. The project was notified in April 2003 under the Multisectoral Framework on regional aid for large investment projects. It concerns the construction of a new production plant for optical storage media in the eastern region of Thuringia. The Commission assessed whether the aid complied with the criteria fixed by the European rules on State aid, and looked at the capacity and the situation of the market in the sector concerned, as well as the number of direct jobs created by the project, which would mean that the investment would have a beneficial effect on the economy of the assisted region. As far as the market for optical storage media is concerned, the Commission noted that it has progressed more rapidly than the manufacturing industry as a whole over recent years. The project should also have a beneficial effect on the regional economy and allow a total of 440 jobs to be generated. Finally, aid complies with the ceiling for authorised aid, i.e. 35%.