By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into India fell by a significant 15% to $36.75 billion during the April-December period of on-going financial year 2022-2023(FY23), according to the latest Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data.
FDI inflows stood at $43.17 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Total FDI inflows, which include equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital, declined to $55.27 billion during the nine month period of the current fiscal year as against $60.4 billion in the year-ago period.
Month-on-month, FDI inflow doubled in December to $4.4 billion versus November’s $2.4 billion inflow. During April-December FY23, Singapore was the top investor with $13 billion FDI. It was followed by Mauritius ($4.7 billion), the US (about $5 billion), the UAE ($3.1 billion), the Netherlands ($2.15 billion), Japan ($1.4 billion), and Cyprus ($1.15 billion), the data showed.
Historically, Singapore and Mauritius have dominated FDI inflow in India, accounting for nearly half of the total investment made from April 2000 to December 2022. The computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows of $8 billion during the nine-monthperiod.
This was followed by services sector ($6.6 billion), trading ($4.14 billion), drug & pharmaceutical ($1.8 billion) and chemicals ($1.5 billion). Among states, Maharashtra ($10.7 billion) and Karnataka ($8.7 billion) attracted maximum FDI inflow between April-December FY2023. Gujarat’s FDI inflow stood at $4.1 billion while Delhi attracted investment of $6.1 billion during the period.
India’s FDI inflow was reported at $58.7 billion in the financial year 2022 and a record $59.6 billion in FY21. However, total foreign direct investment into India grew by 2% to highest ever $83.57 billion in FY2022.
“In terms of foreign investments, FDI flows have moderated, tracking at 2.3% of GDP on a 12-month trailing basis as of November 22 versus 2.6% in November 2021, owing to uncertainty in the global macro landscape. We expect these flows to gain momentum in the coming months as economic conditions stabilize,” analyst at Morgan Stanley said in a recent note.