Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to India declined to $74.01 billion in the calendar year 2021, which is 15 per cent lower from $87.55 billion recorded in the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Wednesday.

The FDI inflow includes equity inflow, equity capital of unincorporated bodies, re-invested earnings and other capital.

“FDI is largely a matter of commercial business decisions and FDI inflow depends on a host of factors such as availability of natural resource, market size, infrastructure, political and general investment climate as well as macro-economic stability and investment decision of foreign investors. In calendar year 2021, the FDI inflow decreased by 15 per cent as compared to calendar year 2020,” Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

To promote FDI, the Government has put in place an investor-friendly policy, wherein most sectors except certain strategically important sectors are open for 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route. Further, the policy on FDI is reviewed on an ongoing basis, to ensure that India remains attractive and investor-friendly destination, the minister said.

“Changes are made in the policy after having consultations with stakeholders including apex industry chambers, associations, representatives of industries/groups and other organizations. The government has recently undertaken a number of reforms across sectors. In the recent past, reforms in the FDI policy have been undertaken in sectors such as Insurance, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Telecom etc,” the minister added.