India Recorded Its Highest-Ever FDI Inflow Of $81.97 Billion In 2020-21

The country registered the highest ever annual foreign direct investment (FDI) Inflow of $81.97 billion (provisional figure) in the financial year 2020-21, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. FDI inflows in the last seven financial years (2014-21) stands at $440.27 billion, which is nearly 58 per cent of the total FDI inflow in the last 21 financial years (2000-2021: $763.83 billion).

The computer software and hardware sector attracted the largest share of FDI inflows at 19 per cent, followed by the service sector at 15 per cent. Trading saw FDI inflow of eight per cent, while the Telecommunications & Construction (Infrastructure) sector attracted FDI inflow of seven per cent each, during the same period in the last more than seven years, according to commerce ministry data.

The top five countries from where FDI equity inflows were received during April 2014 and August 2021 are Singapore (28 per cent), USA (22 per cent), Mauritius (10 per cent), Netherlands (eight per cent), and Japan (six per cent).

The government has taken steps to boost domestic and foreign investments in India, according to the ministry's statement. Some of these steps include the reduction in corporate tax rates, easing liquidity problems of NBFCs and banks, improving the Ease of Doing Business, FDI policy reforms, reduction in compliance burden, policy measures to boost domestic manufacturing through public procurement orders, among others.

To facilitate the investments, measures such as India Industrial Land Bank (IILB), Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS), soft launch of the National Single Window System (NSWS), National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), among others, have been put in place.