Singapore remains top source of FDI in India

Singapore remained the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in fiscal 2024 despite a 31% drop in inflows, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) provisional data released last week showed.

The Asian city-state was followed by Mauritius, the US, the Netherlands, and Japan.

Overall FDI inflow into India during the fiscal declined by about 3% to $44.4 billion from $46 billion in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2022, India had attracted about $58.8 billion FDI.

Among the top sources, Singapore’s FDI into India fell to $11.8 billion in FY24 from $17.2 billion the year before, while inflows from the US, too, declined from $6 billion in FY23 to $5 billion for the period under consideration.

Foreign investment inflows in FY24 from Mauritius, the Netherlands, and Japan, increased by 31%, 96% and and 78%, respectively, to $8 billion, $4.9 billion and $3.2 billion.

The other source countries for FDI to India, the RBI data showed, were the UAE, UK, Qatar, Cyprus, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, France, South Korea, and Australia.

Except for Qatar, South Korea, and Australia, FDI inflows from all other countries declined in the previous fiscal year.

Sector-wise, inflows into manufacturing declined 17.7% to $9.3 billion in FY24 from $11.3 billion the previous year.

FDI inflows into other sectors such as computer services and financial services also declined to $4.9 billion (from $5.6 billion in the previous fiscal) and $4.4 billion (from $6.8 billion).

Foreign investment inflows into power generation, distribution, and transmission rose to $5.5 billion in FY24 from $3.3 billion the previous year.

The RBI’s provisional FDI figures include investments approved by government, those qualifying under the automatic route, and investments made through the acquisition of existing shares.