The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has announced that the Foreign direct investment (FDI) in services the sector has grown 36.5 percent to USD 9.15 billion in 2018-19.
The sector attracted FDI worth USD 6.7 billion in 2017-18. The sector includes finance, banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier, tech testing and analysis.
To improve ease of doing business in the country and attract foreign investment the government has taken several measures like fixing timeliness for approvals and streamlining procedures.
The increasing FDI inflows in the services sector are important as it contributes over 60 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).
Between April 2000 and March 2019, the sector contributed about 18 percent of the total FDI in India.
The other sectors that recorded significant growth in FDI inflows include computer software and hardware, trading, automobile industry, and chemicals.
As per the official data, the overall FDI inflows declined for the first time in the last six years in 2018-19, falling 1 percent to USD 44.37 billion as foreign investments fell significantly in telecommunication and pharmaceutical sectors.
