FDI in production rises 82 per cent in FY17

New Delhi: With the government taking steps to improve ease of doing business and relax regulations, foreign direct investment into the country surged by 60 per cent to $4.68 billion in November 2016. The FDI stood at $2.93 billion in November 2015.

During the period, India received maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Japan, an official said.

Cumulatively, India attracted $32.49 billion foreign inflows in April-November period of the current fiscal as against $24.81 billion in the same period previous year.

The main sectors which have attracted foreign inflows during the eight months period of 2016-17 include services ($6.69 billion), telecom ($5.47 billion), computer hardware and software ($1.61 billion), electrical equipment ($2 billion) and information & broadcasting ($1.06 billion).

Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country’s balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.

To reduce one more layers of approval process, the government in the Budget proposed to abolish the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and further relax the FDI policy.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,100 new foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have registered with capital markets watchdog Sebi in April-November period of the current fiscal.

In the entire last fiscal, a total of 2,900 FPIs had received approval from Sebi. The number of FPIs with Sebi approval rose to 6,406 at the end of November from 4,311 in March-end, reflecting an addition of 2,095 such investors, according to the latest data from Sebi.

FPI investors consider India as a preferred and stable market, given its macro-economic stability, long-term growth prospects and ongoing economic and social reforms, experts said.