NEW DELHI: India received $16.6 billion in foreign direct investment in the first half of the current fiscal, a 13% increase from $14.69 billion recorded a year ago, data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) showed.
Investment of $6.69 billion FDI came from Singapore, followed by $3.66 billion from Mauritius, $1.09 billion from the Netherlands and $815 million from Japan. Computer software and hardware drew the highest amount of FDI, at $3.05 billion, followed by trading, which received $2.30 billion FDI.
Services sector got $1.46 billion and telecommunications $659 million. During 2014-15, FDI inflows grew 27% to $30.93 billion from $24.29 billion in the previous fiscal. In terms of calendar year, the total FDI from January to September added to $26.5 billion, an increase of 18% from a year ago. The government has recently taken a slew of measures to ease FDI inflows in the country by raising the limit in various sectors and putting them under automatic route.
As many as 15 sectors have seen easing of FDI norms as a result of the latest reforms. These sectors include defence, single-brand retail, construction, civil aviation and banking, among others. DIPP wants to bring 98% of the sectors under automatic route for FDI. The government has also undertaken ‘Invest India’ initiative to “promote foreign investments in India in a focused, comprehensive and a structured manner while acting as the first reference point to provide quality input and support services to foreign investors”.