FDI in India up 40% to Rs 1.76 lakh cr in 2014-15

Foreign direct investment in India grew by about 40 percent year-on-year to Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said.

In 2013-14, the country had attracted Rs 1.26 lakh crore FDI. During the last fiscal, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had received 350 proposals and in 11 meetings and 241 were cleared, Jaitley told reporters.

Others are pending at various stages, he said. "...there is an increase of about 40 percent (in FDI) over the previous year," he said.

According to the the data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the top 10 sectors that receive maximum foreign investment include services, automobiles, telecommunication, computer software and hardware and pharmaceuticals.

India attracts maximum FDI from Mauritius, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan, and the US. Healthy inflow of foreign investments into the country helped India's balance of payments (BoP) situation.

India is estimated to have a requirement of around USD 1 trillion investment over five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector, including ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

Government has relaxed FDI norms in various sectors, including insurance, railways and medical devices, to boost FDI in the country.