FDI inflow up by 12% to $1.65 bn in July

New Delhi: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India grew by 12 percent year-on-year to USD 1.65 billion in July, highest since April.

In July 2012, the country had received FDI worth USD 1.47 billion.

In April, the first month of the current financial year, the inflows stood at USD 2.32 billion, according to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

During the April-July period, FDI has grown by 20 percent to USD 7.05 billion, from USD 5.90 billion in the same period last fiscal, the data said.

The sectors that received large inflows during the first four months of the 2013-14 fiscal include services (USD 1.02 billion), pharmaceuticals (USD 1 billion), automobile industry (USD 637 million) and construction (USD 359 million).

The maximum FDI during the period came from Singapore (USD 2.21 billion), followed by Mauritius (USD 1.85 billion), the Netherlands (USD 520 million), Germany (USD 518 million), and the US (USD 371 million).

A DIPP official said that the recent steps announced by the government would further help in attracting FDI inflows and improving the investment environment.

The government has liberalised FDI policy in as many as 12 sectors which include telecom, tea and petroleum and natural gas.

FDI inflows in 2012-13 aggregated USD 22.42 billion, a decline from USD 36.50 billion in 2011-12.

India is estimated to require about USD 1 trillion between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the 12th Five Year Plan period, to fund infrastructure growth covering sectors such as ports, airports and highways.

Overall, an increase in FDI will help support the rupee, which depreciated to a record low of 68.8 against the US dollar on August 28. It has strengthened since then to 63 level.