Sign of Achche Din: FDI doubles to $4.48 bn in Jan, highest in 29 mths

New Delhi, Mar 17: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India more than doubled to USD 4.48 billion in January, the highest inflow in last 29 months. In January 2014, the country had received USD 2.18 billion in FDI.

It was in September 2012 that India had attracted FDI that was worth USD 4.67 billion. During the April-January period of the current fiscal, the foreign inflows have grown by 36 per cent, year-on-year, to USD 25.52 billion, according to data from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The inflows were at USD 18.74 billion during the same period a year ago. Amongst the top 10 sectors, telecom received the maximum FDI of USD 2.83 billion in the 10-month period, followed by services (USD 2.64 billion), automobiles (USD 2.04 billion), computer software and hardware (USD 1.30 billion) and pharmaceuticals (USD 1.25 billion).

During the period (April-January), India received the maximum FDI from Mauritius at USD 7.66 billion, followed by Singapore (USD 5.26 billion), the Netherlands (USD 3.13 billion), Japan (USD 1.61 billion) and the US (USD 1.58 billion). In 2013-14, FDI stood at USD 24.29 billion as against USD 22.42 billion a year earlier.

Healthy inflow of foreign investments into the country helped India's balance of payments (BoP) situation and stabilised the value of rupee. India is estimated to require around USD 1 trillion over five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector, including ports, airports and highways to boost growth. Government is taking steps to boost FDI in the country. It has relaxed FDI norms in sectors including insurance, railways and medical devices.

PTI