The amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received by Tamil Nadu fell by over 50% to $2.21 billion in the period spanning April to March 2016-17, as against $4.52 billion during the corresponding period in 2015-16. This is according to data presented by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry during the recently-concluded Winter Session of Parliament.
In response to a query on FDI inflows received over the past three years as well as during the current year, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C.R. Chaudhary presented data sourced from the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regional offices. As per the data from the Chennai Regional Office of the RBI, which covers Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, investments stood at $3.81 billion in 2014-15 and rose to $4.52 billion in 2015-16, before falling in 2016-17.
The investments received thus far for the period spanning April to September 2017-18 amounted to $2.16 billion. However, figures on sector-wise investments for each State were not available. Going by the trend so far this year, even though the State has almost reached the level of investments received last year, it would be difficult to reach the levels reached in 2015-16. Karnataka also saw a sharp fall in FDI.
The RBI’s regional data for Mumbai, which covers Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, showed a spike in investments to $19.6 billion in 2016-17 from $9.5 billion in 2015-16.
Gujarat tops
For Gujarat, investments rose to $3.36 billion in 2016-17 as against $2.24 billion in 2015-16. The FDI figures for Tamil Nadu come amid concerns over the investment climate in the State, which hasn’t received any big-ticket investments of late.
A recent report by Kotak Institutional Equities showed that Tamil Nadu accounted for a mere 2.9% of the total FDI of $44 billion that the country received during the 2016 calendar year — the lowest in three years. The report noted that Gujarat, with a share of 7.3%, leapfrogged Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to become the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2016.
Published - January 08, 2018 12:53 am IST