FDI inflows rise 3% in FY18, says Centre

New Delhi, June 8: Foreign direct investment ( FDI) in India increased by about 3 per cent to $ 61.96 billion in 2017- 18 on account of steps taken by the government to improve business climate and liberalised policy norms.

FDI inflows stood at $ 60 billion in the previous fiscal. The figure includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital.

DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that during the four years of the Modi government, foreign inflows jumped to $ 222.75 billion from $ 152 billion in the previous four- year period.

In the last four years, the government has liberalised FDI norms in sectors such as defence, medical devices, construction development, retail and civil aviation.

The main sectors that received maximum foreign inflows include services, computer software and hardware, telecom, construction, trading and automobile.

Major sources of foreign inflows include Mauritius, Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, the US, Germany, France and the UAE.

However, according to an UN report yesterday, FDI to India decreased to $ 40 billion in 2017 from $ 44 billion in 2016, while outflows from India, the main source of investment in South Asia, more than doubled.

Suppose I receive a complaint... we forward it to the right agencies because they are the ones who are supposed to take cognisance. We are not making any value judgement on it.

— SURESH PRABHU, Union commerce and industries minister