NEW DELHI: India has recorded the “highest ever” annual FDI (foreign direct investment) inflow of $83.57 billion in 2021-22, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday, May 20.
“In 2014-2015, FDI inflow in India stood at mere $45.15 billion as compared to the highest ever annual FDI inflow of $83.57 billion reported during the financial year 2021-22 overtaking last year’s FDI by $1.60 billion despite military operation in Ukraine and COVID-19 pandemic,” noted the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in an official statement.
India’s FDI inflows have risen 20-fold since FY2003-04 when inflows were at $4.3 billion, it added.
Karnataka is the top recipient state with a 38% share of total FDI equity inflows reported during FY22, followed by Maharashtra (26%) and Delhi (14%), the ministry said.
The majority of the equity inflow of Karnataka has been reported in the sectors `Computer Software & Hardware (35%), Automobile Industry (20%) and `Education’ (12%) during the FY 2021-22, it added.
According to the government, the FDI inflow in the manufacturing sectors increased by 76 per cent in the previous financial year ($21.34 billion) as compared to the $12.09 billion in the financial year 2020-21.
According to the data, the FDI inflow has increased by 23 per cent post-Covid pandemic i.e March 2020 to 2022 registered inflow of $171.84 billion against $141.10 billion between February 2018-2020.
Among the top contributors to India’s FDI inflow, Singapore topped the charts with a share of 27 per cent, followed by US (18 per cent) and Mauritius accounting for 16 per cent.
The government has attributed the high inflow to the measures taken in the past eight years. “The government reviews the FDI policy on an ongoing basis and makes significant changes from time to time, to ensure that India remains attractive and investor friendly destination,” the ministry said, adding that the government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for FDI, wherein most of the sectors are open to FDI under the automatic route.