FDI inflow to India dips to $25.89 bn

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India dipped 5.16 per cent to $25.89 billion in 2009-10, which analysts said was good given the global credit squeeze.

FDI inflows in 2008-09 was $27.30 billion. In March, the inflows declined by 38 per cent to $1.21 billion from $1.95 billion a year ago, an official said.

"Looking at the global conditions, I would say these are fairly respectable numbers," CRISIL Principal Economist D K Joshi said. FDI inflow into India crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time in 2006 and in the following year jumped to $23 billion, making it the second most attractive investment destination after China.

However, the global financial crisis of 2008 strangled this growth. International trade expert at the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said that India was always considered as an attractive destination for foreign investments.

"In the context of the global situation, the figures are good," he said, adding that India needs to further upgrade its infrastructure and simplify procedures to attract more and more FDI.

The major sectors which attracted FDI includes services, telecommunication, housing and real estate, power and automobile industry. India receives maximum FDI from countries like Mauritius, Singapore, the US and UK.

The government is considering to liberalise FDI regime in sectors like defence, agriculture, real estate and multi-brand retail. Discussion papers on these are likely soon.