FDI in India up 8% at $2.15 bn in Jan

After declining for two months in a row, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 8 per cent year-on-year to $2.15 billion in January.

In January 2012, the country had received FDI worth $ 2 billion. However during the April-January period of the current fiscal, FDI declined by 39 per cent to $19.10 billion due to global economic uncertainties, an official in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) told PTI.

During the same period of the previous fiscal, FDI inflows stood at $31.28 billion. Sectors which received large FDI inflows during the first 10 months of the current fiscal include services ($4.66 billion), hotel and tourism ($3.19 billion), metallurgical ($1.38 billion), construction ($1.20 billion) and Pharmaceuticals ($ 1 billion), the official added.

India received maximum FDI from Mauritius ($8.17 billion), followed by Japan ($1.69 billion), Singapore ($1.82 billion), the Netherlands ($1.51 billion) and the UK ($1.04 billion).

Expressing optimism, the official said liberalisation of the FDI policy in various sectors would help boost inflows in the coming months.

In November 2012, India attracted FDI worth $1.05 billion, which was a two-year low. Similarly, in December last year the inflows dipped by 19 per cent.

The inflows had aggregated to $36.50 billion in 2011- 12 against $ 19.42 billion in 2010-11 and $25.83 billion in 2009-10.

India would require around $1 trillion in the next five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

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