India received $64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020: UN

According to a UN report, India has received $64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in the year 2020, which is the fifth-largest recipient of inflows in the world. The second wave of Covid-19 has weighed heavily on the country's overall economy, but its strong fundamentals provide optimism for the medium term. On Monday, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the World Investment Report 2021. The global FDI inflow has been hit severely due to the pandemic, and they plunged by 35% in 2020 to $1 trillion from $1.5 trillion last year, it said. The report said that FDI in India has increased by 27% from $51 billion in 2019 to $64 billion in 2020. It was pushed up by acquisitions in the information and communication (ICT) sector, making India the fifth largest FDI recipient inflows of the world. The Covid-19 pandemic boosted the demand for digital infrastructure and services. Due to which the greenfield FDI project announced targeting the ICT industry, raising over 22% to $81 billion. The major announcements in the ICT industry include a $2.8 billion investment by Amazon in ICT infrastructure in India. The greenfield project announcements in India contracted by 19% to $24 billion, and the second wave of the pandemic in April 2021 is affecting the economic activities, which could further lead to a larger contraction in 2021. Yet, the strong fundamentals provide optimism for the medium term. FDI's market in India will keep attracting market investments, and the investment in the ICT industry is expected to keep growing. FDI inflow grew by 4% to $535 billion in 2020, making it the only region to have growth and increasing Asia's share of global inflows to 54%. In China, FDI inflow increased by 6% to $149 billion. While Asia's economics as India and China recorded FDI growth in 2020, others recorded contractions, the report said. FDI inflows in Asia are expected to increase in 2021, outperforming the other developing regions with a growth of 5% to 10%, the report added. Image Source Also read: FDIs in India rise 19% to $59.64 billion in FY21: Govt data Also read: New FDI norms will help revive construction and infrastructure