FDI equity inflows grow 21% in April-Oct

New Delhi: Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into India grew 21 per cent to $35.33 billion during April-October period of the current financial year, according to an official data.

In the year-ago period, FDI equity inflows stood at $29.31 billion, as per the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). During the first seven months of the current fiscal, total FDI (including re-invested earnings) increased 11 per cent to $46.82 billion from $42.06 billion in April-October 2019, it said.

"FDI equity inflow increased by 21 per cent to $35.33 billion (April 2020 to October 2020) from $29.31 billion reported in the same period of previous financial year," the department said in a statement while listing out its highlights during 2020. Sectors which attracted maximum foreign inflows include computer software and hardware, services, trading, chemicals and automobile. The country attracts maximum funds from Singapore, the US, Mauritius, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Japan. In the last one year, the government has eased FDI policy in several sectors including insurance intermediaries and defence.

"26 FDI applications marked to DPIIT have been disposed of in 2020," it added. The department also said total 84 plots admeasuring nearly 554.73 acres have been allotted to companies with investment to the tune of over Rs 16,100 crore including investors like HYOSUNG (South Korea), NLMK (Russia), HAIER (China), TATA Chemicals and AMUL so far. Nine companies have also started their commercial production, DPIIT said.

It added that Project Development Cells (PDCs) have now been established in 29 ministries/departments of the government, headed by respective Joint Secretary-level nodal officers.

"All PDCs have assumed a smooth functioning, executing clearly defined investor engagement strategies, which includes identification of prospective investors; multi-level engagements with investors that have shown interest; active engagement with a wide range of stakeholders to resolve existing investors' issues, to develop new projects/proposals and to promote existing investment opportunities," it added.