Delhi Dethrones Maharashtra As India’s Top FDI Destination

In a first, the national capital along with the national capital region that includes parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has overtaken the long-standing leader Maharashtra in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.

According to the data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, New Delhi received FDI equity worth Rs 57,333 crore in the first nine months of 2018-19 while Maharashtra got Rs 56,436 crore during the same time period. Overall, FDI inflow in India stood at Rs 2.1 lakh crore approximately, a seven per cent decline compared to the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

The top sectors that received major foreign investment includes services, computer hardware and software, chemicals, telecommunications & trading, and accounted for nearly 65 per cent of total inflow.

The infrastructure sector gained Rs 12,862 crore from the foreign investors while the construction sector attracted around Rs 543 crore funds. 

Meanwhile, in a separate analysis by London & Partners, Bangalore (6) and Hyderabad (14) are listed among top 20 global cities for attracting FDI into the information and communications technology and electronics sectors.

The IT growth in India is expected to clock 7-9 per cent growth in FY19 according to industry body NASSCOM. Data collected from the top four IT services companies in the country also show over 70,000 people were hired from April-Dec 2018, which was five times growth over the total hiring made in 2017-18. 

Impact 

While the job crises and unemployment are visible challenges that India was facing, the trust of foreign investors in Indian economy is a welcome change, most probably due to stable political regime and policy changes. Moreover, India’s thrust on building infrastructure is being seen as one of the key determinants for economic growth.