India Witnessed $230 Billion in FDI in Past Three Years, Says India's Finance Minister

On Oct 4, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India attracted more than $230 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last three fiscal years, primarily in physical infrastructure and logistics bottlenecks.

"The interest of companies to invest in India and run businesses here is now very clearly pronounced," Sitharaman said at the Institute of Company Secretaries of India's (ICSI) 55th Foundation Day celebration.

The finance minister stated, "Most of these investments are in physical infrastructure building. Most are going into removing logistic bottlenecks, improving regional connectivity, increasing port and air capacity, and increasing overall efficiencies." She said decisions taken by the government to make doing business easier have helped attract overseas investments in the country.

According to the minister, 39,000 “unnecessary compliances” have been removed, while over 1,500 laws were revoked during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure to make business easier. Sitharaman emphasized the government's actions, such as decriminalizing minor offenses, implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, streamlining the regulatory environment, and tax changes.

She stated that the government has taken various initiatives to simplify business. "So that this country is seen for entrepreneurs and their spirit for performing for the country rather than what we had been known earlier for not so good corporate governance and inefficiencies in practice," she stated. According to government statistics, India received the largest annual FDI inflow of $83.57 billion in fiscal year 2021-22. However, it will drop to $71 billion in 2022-23. Gross FDI inflows to India totaled $81.97 billion in fiscal year 2020-21.