India's FDI Set To Hit $100 Billion As Centre Streamlines Approval Process
To boost investments, the government has introduced several measures, including relaxing regulations in sectors like defense, railways, insurance, and telecom.
India is attracting foreign direct investment to the tune of $70–80 billion annually and this is projected to touch $100 billion in the near future, according to a senior government official.
Amardeep Singh Bhatia, the secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, said that the government is working to simplify the approval process for FDI applications.
To boost investments, the government has introduced several measures, including relaxing regulations in sectors like defence, railways, insurance, and telecom.
"We are targeting much higher investment flows. We have about $70 billion to $80 billion which is coming in every year. But we are expecting this to increase to at least $100 billion a year in the years to come," he told reporters here.
Bhatia said that FDI in most sectors are permitted through the automatic route. However, few sectors still remain in the restricted category.
The overseas inflows in the last 10 years (2014–24) stood at $667.4 billion, as against $304.1 billion during the 2004–14 period.
The FDI equity inflow reported in manufacturing sectors in the last 10 financial years (2014–24) was $165.1 billion, an increase of 69% compared to $97.7 billion received during the previous 10 financial years (2004–14).
Automobiles, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals were the sectors that saw the highest FDI.
Speaking at the briefing, Additional Secretary in the DPIIT Himani Pande said that during the first quarter of this fiscal, India attracted FDI of $22.49 billion as against $17.56 billion in the April–June quarter of FY24.
"So I think, we are going towards a better trajectory as compared to last year... There has been a continuous effort for liberalising FDI," she said.
According to DPIIT, defence contracts worth billions of dollars were awarded to Indian companies like Tata, L&T, and Bharat Forge, fostering a growing ecosystem of defence manufacturing.
"While challenges remain in areas such as job creation and SME growth, the Make in India initiative has significantly enhanced India's industrial capacity and export competitiveness over the last decade," it said.
(With Inputs From PTI)
