Q1 FDI GROWTH UP 23%

NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment in India grew by 23 per cent to $12.75 billion during the April-june quarter of 2018-19, according to official data.

The foreign fund inflows in April-june 2017-18 stood at $10.4 billion, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data showed.

Key sectors that received maximum foreign investment during the first quarter of the fiscal include services ($2.43 billion), trading ($1.62 billion), telecommunications ($1.59 billion), computer software and hardware ($1.4 billion), and power ($969 million).

Singapore was the largest source of FDI during AprilJune 2018-19 with $6.52 billion, followed by Mauritius ($1.5 billion), Japan ($874 million), the Netherlands ($836 million), the UK ($648 million), and the US ($348 million).

A growth in foreign investment assumes significance against the backdrop of widening current account deficit and trade deficit.

The country's current account deficit (CAD) is likely to touch 2.8 per cent of GDP in 2018-19 on surge in crude oil prices, a report by SBI Research projected.

FPI and FDI inflows are expected to finance a major part of the CAD, the report noted.

Foreign direct investment had increased at a five-year low growth of 3 per cent at $44.85 billion in 2017-18. An UNCTAD report, too, had stated that the foreign direct investment in India decreased to $40 billion in 2017 from $44 billion in 2016 fiscal.

A decline in foreign inflows could put pressure on the country's balance of payments and may also impact the value of the rupee.