Inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 increased to $61.96 billion compared to $60.08 billion in the previous fiscal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has said.
In the last four years since the BJP government came to power, total inflow of foreign direct investment was $222.75 billion. “This is much higher than the FDI inflow of $140 billion in the previous four years,” Prabhu said, addressing the media on the government’s achievement since it came to power in 2014.
The Minister said that the Commerce & Industry Ministry had finished work on the National Industrial Policy, and it would come out soon. “We have already held intensive consultations with stakeholders. I have written a letter to my colleagues in other Ministries for their comments,” the Minister said.
The National Industrial Policy will further improve investment climate in the country, he added.
Prabhu said that India will soon be a $5 trillion economy and his Ministry was preparing a plan to ensure that the manufacturing sector contributes 20 per cent to the GDP in the next seven years.
The Commerce & Industry Ministry was also drawing up a plan to promote exports so that exports of goods and services, too, contribute to 20 per cent of the GDP over the next few years. “I had consultations with representatives of all major sectors. We are focussing on new products as well as new markets,” he said.