India has received more than $500 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows between 2014 and 2024, more than doubling the $208 billion recorded in the previous decade, according to Sanjay Nayar, President of industry body Assocham.
The latest figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reveal that FDI inflows reached $81.04 billion in FY 2024–25, up 14 per cent from $71.28 billion in the previous fiscal year. This steady rise reflects the success of investor-friendly policies, with most sectors now open for 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route.
Nayar, writing in The Economic Times, attributed the surge to structural reforms such as Make in India, Digital India, and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. These initiatives have improved the ease of doing business and boosted India’s standing as a destination for sustainable investment, particularly in manufacturing and digital infrastructure.
Significantly, $300 billion of the total FDI inflow over the last decade came in the five years between 2019 and 2024, highlighting an accelerated growth trend. Sectors like computer software and hardware attracted $95 billion, while the services sector — including finance, IT, R&D, and consultancy — drew $77 billion.
The services sector led in FDI equity inflows for FY 2024–25, accounting for 19 per cent of the total, followed by computer software and hardware (16 per cent) and trading (8 per cent). Notably, FDI into services rose by 40.77 per cent to $9.35 billion from $6.64 billion in the previous year.
Manufacturing-related FDI also showed strong growth, increasing 18 per cent to $19.04 billion from $16.12 billion. Maharashtra emerged as the top recipient of FDI equity inflows with a 39 per cent share, followed by Karnataka (13 per cent) and Delhi (12 per cent).
Among source countries, Singapore led with 30 per cent of total FDI inflows, followed by Mauritius (17 per cent) and the United States (11 per cent).
India’s emergence as a global manufacturing hub is evident in sectors like smartphones, where imports have dropped dramatically. In 2014, up to 80 per cent of smartphones were imported. Now, global players such as Apple, via partners Foxconn and Wistron, assemble devices locally, pushing smartphone exports to $21 billion.
The country’s clean-tech ambitions are also drawing foreign capital. Investment is flowing into renewable energy and electric mobility, further solidifying India’s role in the global green economy, Nayar noted.
