Foreign direct investment in the country grew by a meagre 0.27 percent to $35.94 billion during the first nine months of the current financial year.
FDI inflows stood at $35.84 billion during the April-December period of last fiscal, 2016-17. However, in rupee terms, the FDI recorded negative growth as the inflows dipped 4 percent to Rs 2,31,457 crore, according to data provided by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
Bulk of the FDI came in from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.
During the nine-month period, India received a maximum of $13.34 billion investments from Mauritius, followed by investments from Singapore at $9.21 billion and from the Netherlands at $2.38 billion.
Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways, to boost growth.
A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country’s balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee against other global currencies, especially the U.S. dollar.