Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India zoomed 37% during the first quarter (April-June) of fiscal year 2017-18 to touch $10.4 billion. As per the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the country had attracted FDI of $7.59 billion during same quarter previous year. The main sectors which attracted the highest foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile. Besides, bulk of the FDI came in from Singapore followed by Mauritius, Netherlands and Japan.
The DIPP also stated that FDI equity inflow in manufacturing sector grew by 31% to $4.19 billion during April-June this fiscal. It noted that FDI equity inflow in glass, Leather cement & gypsum products, sea transport, air transport, construction development, mining, sugar and medical & surgical appliances recorded five-fold jump during the quarter. It added that since the launch of 'Make in India' initiative (October 2014 - June this year), foreign inflows surged 64% to $110.12 billion from $67.26 billion in the same period last year.
To attract foreign inflow, the government has announced several measures including liberalisation of FDI policy and improvement in business climate. Foreign investments are considered crucial for India as it needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments (BoP) situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.