‘FDI will continue to grow in 2021’

NEW DELHI: The high growth story of foreign direct investments (FDI) into India will “go well” in the new year too as there is a growing interest among overseas investors about the country amid the government’s continuing reform measures to further improve the business climate.

With relaxed FDI norms, defence production will be among the areas that will be looked at for fresh FDI in the months ahead while easing compliance burden of businesses will be a priority area.

Irrespective of the global slowdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, FDI into India recorded a significant jump, according to secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra.

Facebook’s huge investment in Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platform helped India receive around $43.5 billion FDI during the January-September 2020 period and going ahead, the bullish trend is expected to continue.

“There was a global slowdown. We also thought that the growth pattern of FDI in India, which was very very encouraging, might decline post-Covid. But the decline has not happened and the FDI continues to grow well and now the general revival is there in the economy. I do not have any anxieties now, it (FDI growth) should go well in 2021,” Mohapatra said.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March to curb spreading of infections and the move had also severely impacted economic activities.

The government has relaxed FDI norms in sectors such as defence production and that is also one of the areas “which one will look forward to”, Mohapatra said.

According to him, some big ticket investments will keep happening as “overall there is an interest in India’s growth story” particularly now because the worst part of the pandemic is over.

After taking multiple steps to significantly improve the ease of doing business, the government is working to reduce compliance burden of businesses, Mohapatra said.

“This is a priority of the government. Every compliance which is a burden needs to be removed and this includes de-criminalisation of civil wrongs,” he emphasised.