FDI equity inflow in April-Nov rises 37% to $44 billion

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow into India in the April-November period increased 37 per cent to $43.85 billion, compared to $32.11 billion in the same period last fiscal.

“It is also the highest ever for the first eight months of a financial year..,” according to an official release issued by the Commerce & Industry Ministry on Wednesday.

In the first eight months of FY21, total FDI (including reinvested earnings) rose 22 per cent to $58.37 billion, from $47.67 billion in April-November 2019, it said, adding that this, too, is the highest ever for the eight-month period in any fiscal.

“Measures taken by the government on FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation, and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country,” the release said.

In April-October, FDI equity inflow was up 21 per cent to $35.3 billion.

China and India were two the major outliers in a gloomy year for FDI in 2020, as per a recent UNCTAD report on investment trends.

Global FDI

While China was the world’s largest FDI recipient with flows rising by 4 per cent to $163 billion, India’s 13 per cent rise resulted in FDI touching $57 billion, as per the report. Global FDI, on the other hand, collapsed in 2020, falling by 42 per cent to an estimated $859 billion, from $1.5 trillion in 2019.

The areas that attracted FDI the most in India include computer software and hardware, services, trading, chemicals and automobiles. The top sources of FDI for India are Singapore, the US, Mauritius, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Japan.