JOIN USDuring January-June 2009, the country received USD 13.19 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the data of the Industry Ministry. "The main reason for the decline in FDI is slump in the major western economies like the US and Europe...," international trade expert with India's prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said.
Joshi said that the flow of foreign investments depends particularly on the on the revival of the western countries. The sectors which attracted maximum overseas investments include services, telecommunication, construction activities, housing and real estate, power and automobile.
The country received maximum investments from countries like Mauritius, the US, UK, Singapore, the Netherlands and Japan. The government is making sustained efforts to make the FDI policy regime more attractive and investor friendly, with a view to attract investments from all major investing countries.
The government had floated discussion papers for public comments to liberalise FDI in multi-brand retail and defence sector. FDI for 2009-10 at USD 25.88 billion was lower by five per cent from USD 27.33 billion in the previous fiscal.