New Delhi: Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 6 per cent year-on-year to US $ 10.87 billion during the first six months of this year.
According to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the country had received US $ 10.27 billion of FDI in January-June, 2012.
"FDI inflows have a positive impact by supplementing domestic capital, technology and skills of existing companies as well as through establishment of new companies," an official in the DIPP said.
Sectors that received large FDI inflows include hotels and tourism, pharmaceuticals, services, chemicals and construction. Most of the inflows came from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and the US.
The official said the country will receive more and more foreign investment on the back of recent liberalisation in the FDI policy regime.
On August 1, the government liberalised the FDI regime in about a dozen sectors, including telecom, and relaxed investment norms in multi-brand retailing. India attracted US $ 22.42 billion of FDI in 2012-13 compared with US $ 35.12 billion in the previous fiscal.
India needs about US $ 1 trillion to fund infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. An increase in FDI will help support the rupee, which depreciated to a record low of 68.85 against the US dollar on August 28. It will also help in bridging the ballooning current account deficit.
The CAD has widened to a record high of US $ 88 billion or 4.8 per cent of the GDP for the fiscal ended March 31, from US $ 78.2 billion in 2011-2012, about 4.2 per cent of the GDP.
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