FDI up 65% in Modi regime: FM

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said FDI into the country during the Modi government was $500.5 billion, which is 65 per cent more than the amount received in the 10 years of the UPA government, as investors have trusted the economic management of the current regime.

Replying to the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2022, and Appropriation Bill, 2022, the minister said India continues to remain among the top-five foreign direct investment recipient countries in the world, as per a UNCTAD report. The FDI inflow in 2020-21 was $81.72 billion compared to $74.9 billion in the preceding financial year. Despite the Covid pandemic, she said the government did not resort to taxes for resource mobilisation and no tax was increased to fund the economic recovery.

On the other hand, as per an OECD report, as many as 32 countries had resorted to an increase in their tax rates to fund their economic recoveries. Sitharaman also highlighted that the war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting all countries like the pandemic had. The finance minister also said Rs8.35 lakh crore has been devolved to states from central taxes in the current fiscal, higher than the revised estimate of Rs7.45 lakh crore for 2021-22.