Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India grew by 6 per cent to $42 billion in 2018, with strong inflows in the manufacturing, communication and financial services sectors, and cross-border merger and acquisition activities, according to a UN report that ranked India among the top 20 host economies for FDI inflows in 2017-18.
The World Investment Report 2019, released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Wednesday, said global FDI flows slid by 13 per cent in 2018 to $1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year — the third consecutive annual decline.
However, FDI inflows to developing countries in Asia rose by 3.9 per cent to $512 billion in 2018, with growth occurring mainly in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries, as well as India and Turkey. The Asian region remained the world’s largest FDI recipient, absorbing 39 per cent of global inflows in 2018, up from 33 per cent in 2017. FDI inflows to South Asia increased by 3.5 per cent to $54 billion.
“Investment in India - the subregion’s largest recipient - rose by 6 per cent to $42 billion with strong inflows in manufacturing, communication, financial services and cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) activities,” the report said.
The report added that India has historically accounted for 70 to 80 per cent of inflows to the subregion. Further, the growth in cross-border M&As for India from $23 billion in 2017 to $33 billion in 2018 was primarily due to transactions in retail trade ($16 billion), which includes e-commerce, and telecommunication ($13 billion).
It said that notable megadeals included the acquisition of Flipkart, India’s biggest e-commerce platform, by American giant Walmart. In addition, telecommunication deals involving Vodafone (UK) and American Tower (US) amounted to $2 billion.
The report added that India and the UAE, not traditionally in the top 20 outward investor countries, were also considered as among the top 10 most important sources of FDI for the 2019 to 2021 period.
Further, prospects for FDI inflows into South Asia are largely determined by expectations of growing investment into India. Announced greenfield investment in the country doubled to $56 billion in 2018, with projects in a number of manufacturing industries, including automotive, the report said.