India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in December 2013 remained unchanged at $1.10 billion, same as a year ago period and lower compared to $1.64 billion in the month of November. However, for the nine month period April-December, FDI equity inflows showed a modest decline of 2 percent to $16.56 billion from $16.94 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year.
As per the data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), during the first nine months of the fiscal, the highest FDI contributor was services with investment of $1.59 billion, followed by pharmaceuticals $1.26 billion, construction development $ 914 million and automobiles $871 million.
Region wise, Mauritius once again led the inflows with $3.67 billion of FDI during April-December, followed by Singapore $ 3.2 billion, UK $3.14 billion and the Netherlands $ 1.6 billion. On Domestic city wise, New Delhi, followed by Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad attracted maximum FDI during the nine months period ended April-December.
The nation requires about $1 trillion of FDI between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the 12th Five-Year Plan period, to fund infrastructure projects. Recently the government has proposed relaxation of norms for foreign investment in construction, a move that could open up funds flow into the financially stressed sector and can improve the FDI in the country.