Foreign investors pumped a whopping $67.54 billion into India during the first nine months of the current financial year (April-December 2020-21), despite the economic downturn caused by the corona virus pandemic, figures released by the commerce ministry showed.
It is the highest ever for the first ninth months of any financial year and 22 per cent higher compared to the first ninth months of 2019-20 ($55.14 billion).
The spike in FDI inflows was led by a 40 per cent rise equity investments in the first 9 months of FY 2020-21 to $51.47 billion, commerce ministry data showed.
FDI inflows increased by 37 per cent to $26.16 billion in the third quarter of 2020-21 compared to $19.09 billion during the thurd quarter of 2019-20.
FDI inflows showed growth of 24 per cent, at $9.22 billion in December 2020, against $7,46 billion in December 2019.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a major driver of economic growth and an important source of non-debt finance for the economic development of India. The government has put in place an enabling and investor friendly FDI policy by removing policy bottlenecks that have been hindering the investment inflows into the country.
Measures taken by the government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country, says the commerce ministry, adding that it is an endorsement of India’s status as a preferred investment destination amongst global investors.