India continues to be a favorite FDI hub

<p style="font-weight: 400;">Even as India revised its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to bar any “opportunistic” takeover or acquisition in domestic companies by its neighboring countries in the wake of the spread of Covid-19, it is ready to welcome companies from all countries which wish to set up greenfield projects.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Analysts say that India continued to remain an attractive investment destination compared to most other countries amid rising uncertainty due to the spread of the disease. The recent restrictions on FDI are aimed at Chinese investment.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">In 2019, India witnessed a spur of 16 per cent in inflow in FDI at $49 billion. According to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, India, which drove the FDI growth in South Asia, was among the top recipients in 2019. The report also said that in 2019 global FDI remained flat at $1.39 trillion.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">+“We are open to investments from any country, the government has no objection whatsoever with foreign companies coming here to set up projects. India has the advantage of demography, democracy with huge domestic demand,” BJP’s national spokesperson on economic affairs Gopal Agarwal told IN. “The revised FDI guidelines are just to protect our domestic companies which may have suffered in term of valuation.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“South Asia recorded a 10 per cent increase in FDI to $60 billion. The growth was driven by India, with a 16 per cent increase in inflows to an estimated $49 billion. The majority went into services industries, including information technology,” it said.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier, presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that FDI into the country increased to $284 billion during the 2014-19 period. “India's FDI got elevated to the level of $284 billion during 2014-19 from $190 billion that came in during the years 2009-14,” she had said.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">In this month, the Uttar Pradesh government liberalized labor laws for a period of three years, a move that is expected to boost investments and jobs in the state. The government has also passed an ordinance to facilitate the same. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have also brought in sweeping changes in labor laws. Other states such as Rajasthan, Odisha, Haryana, Assam and Maharashtra have also announced policy changes to attract investments as the economy opens up after a nationwide lockdown since March 25.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The Centre, along with Invest India, the nodal body facilitating fresh investment in the country, have got in touch with several foreign companies. “India was always considered a great investment destination but now it has also earned huge respect globally for its role in containing the spread of the coronavirus as well as supplying critical drugs to the world,” Deepak Bagla, CEO and managing director Invest India earlier told IN.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Bagla added that while the changes may not yield immediate results, these will start showing up in the next one year.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">In January, 2020, Amazon India announced investment of $1 billion, aimed at digitizing small and medium businesses. The investment is expected to create one million jobs by 2025.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The same month, Mastercard announced its investment plans of up to $1 billion in the country. This would be done in five years to double up its research and development efforts for the Indian market.</p>.