FDI inflows into India grew by 185 pc in 2006-07

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 185 per cent to 15.7 billion dollars in 2006-07 from 5.5 billion dollars in the last financial year, according to Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

The country industrial production grew by 11 per cent in April-June quarter of the current fiscal compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the Minister told the media today.

He said if reinvested earnings and other capital inflows are also included, the total inflows in 2006-07 add up to 19.5 billion dollars compared to 7.7 billion dollars in 2005-06, up 153 per cent.

FDI inflow in the April-June quarter of current financial year also grew by over 185 per cent to 4.9 billion dollars compared to 1.7 billion dollars received during the corresponding period of fiscal 2006-07.

The Minister said growth of FDI in January-June period of 2007 was a whooping 218 per cent at 11.4 billion dollars as against 3.6 billion dollars received during first six months of 2006.

He said manufacturing sector, which has a weightage of around 80 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production, also grew by 11.9 per cent during April-June quarter of current fiscal, almost same as growth of 11.7 per cent during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

India's manufacturing sector recorded a growth 12.5 per cent in 2006-07, up from 9.1 per cent in 2005-06. This, Mr Kamal Nath said, was the highest growth recorded by manufacturing sector since 1995-96.

Returning to the FDI story, the Minister said services, telecom, electrical equipments, real estate and transport sectors have received most FDI till May of this year.

Regionwise, Delhi topped the list having received 1.3 billion dollars, around 36 per cent of FDI till May this year; followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad. These five regions received two-thirds of the total inflows, an official statement said.

Of 2.9 billion dollars of FDI received in April-May this year, as much as 1.9 billion dollars of investment was made by investors from Mauritius. Other major investing countries are Japan, Cyprus, United States, and Singapore.

UNI