Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India rose to a record level of USD 49.97 billion (about Rs 3.75 lakh crore), up by 13%, for the financial year (2019-20), according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data.
The jump has been the highest in four years.
Total FDI into India, including re-invested earnings and other capital in 2019-20, stood at USD 73.45 billion from USD 62 billion in the last fiscal year, an increase of 18%.
The country received FDI of $44.36 billion during April-March 2018-19. Major sectors that drew maximum foreign inflows include:
Services (USD 7.85 billion, highest investment) Computer software and hardware (USD 7.67 billion) Telecommunications (USD 4.44 billion) Trading (USD 4.57 billion) Automobile (USD 2.82 billion) Construction (USD 2 billion) Chemicals (USD one billion)
Singapore emerged as the largest source of foreign fund flows in India for the second consecutive time, with USD 14.67 billion FDI inflow. However, this was lower than the 2018-19 investment of USD 16.22 billion.
Mauritius was second with USD 8.24 billion, the Netherlands (USD 6.5 billion), the US (USD 4.22 billion), Cayman Islands (USD 3.7 billion), Japan (USD 3.22 billion), France (USD 1.89 billion), UK (USD 1.42 billion) Cyprus (USD 879 million), and Germany (USD 488 million).
FDI is recognised as one of the powerful dynamics for economic growth of any country, and is believed to enable countries to build up physical capital, create employment opportunities and so forth.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted that the figures show foreign countries’ trust in the government’s Make In India initiative.
In another strong vote of confidence in Make in India, total FDI into India grew at 18% in 2019-20 to reach $73 Bn. Total FDI has doubled from 13-14 when it was only $36 Bn. This long term investment will spur job creation.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 28, 2020
The overseas inflows between January-March 2020 quarter also increased to USD 13.2 billion from USD 10.67 billion in the previous quarter (October-December 2019).
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