Kamal Ghorui
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased 18 per cent year-on-year to $47.87 billion during April-December 2025-26, with inflows from the United States nearly doubling in the first nine months of the fiscal, government data released on Friday showed.FDI during April-December FY24 had stood at $40.67 billion, PTI reported.In the October-December quarter of 2025-26, FDI equity inflows rose about 17 per cent year-on-year to $12.69 billion. However, they declined over 23 per cent compared with the June-September quarter, when inflows were $16.55 billion.Total FDI, which includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital, grew 17.4 per cent to $73.31 billion during April-December this fiscal, compared with $62.48 billion in the same period of 2024-25.Inflows from the US increased sharply to $7.8 billion during the latest nine-month period, up from $3.73 billion recorded in April-December 2024-25.Singapore remained the largest source of FDI during the period at $17.65 billion. It was followed by the US, Mauritius at $4.83 billion, Japan at $3.2 billion, the UAE at $2.45 billion, the Netherlands at $2.29 billion, the Cayman Islands at $1.97 million, and Cyprus at $1.4 billion.The US is the third-largest investor in India with cumulative investments of $78.46 billion between April 2000 and December 2025. Singapore leads with $192.53 billion, followed by Mauritius at $185 billion during the same period.Sector-wise, computer software and hardware attracted the highest inflows at $10.7 billion during April-December this fiscal. Services received $8.42 billion and trading $3.36 billion. Non-conventional energy saw inflows of $2.53 billion, construction infrastructure activities $2.1 billion, automobiles $1.82 billion, and chemicals $702 million.Among states, Maharashtra received the highest inflow of $15.38 billion, followed by Karnataka at $11.2 billion, Gujarat at $5 billion, Tamil Nadu at $3.89 billion, Haryana at $3.84 billion, Delhi at $3.52 billion, and Telangana at $1.7 billion.The government said it has put in place an investor-friendly FDI policy under which most sectors are open for 100 per cent overseas inflows through the automatic route. Reforms between 2014 and 2019 included increased FDI caps in defence, insurance and pension sectors, along with liberalised policies for construction, civil aviation and single-brand retail trading.From 2019 to 2024, further measures allowed 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route in coal mining, contract manufacturing and insurance intermediaries.During the last financial year, FDI equity inflows stood at $50.01 billion, while overall FDI totalled $80.6 billion.
