A question raised by a CPI MP John Brittas in Parliament to the BJP-led central government has put the spotlight back on foreign investment trends in India. The query was directed to Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, asking how much foreign investment is currently coming into India and what the percentage change has been since the Modi government came to power in 2014.
In the written reply, the minister stated that FDI inflows for 2022-23 stood at $27.99 billion, while the latest figure has fallen to $0.96 billion. Citing this sharp drop, the CPI MP alleged that foreign investment has declined by about 97% compared to earlier levels. The MP further claimed that around $180 billion has gone out of the country in the last four years as investors withdrew and moved capital back to their own countries or to other markets.
The opposition leader argued that the robust FDI inflows encouraged during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister under the Congress government have “been completely destroyed” during the tenure of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The MP linked the fall in investment to rising unemployment among youth, and said the decline has contributed to inflation and poverty. The statement concluded that the Finance Minister has been “the biggest failure” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The government, in its reply, provided only the year-wise FDI figures and did not offer a detailed reason for the decline.
Foreign Direct Investment data is released quarterly by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and RBI. FDI numbers fluctuate year to year due to global factors like interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and investor sentiment. The $27.99 billion figure for 2022-23 and $0.96 billion figure cited need to be read against the specific period and category the minister was referring to, as total annual FDI to India has historically been much higher than $1 billion.
Opposition parties have been raising the issue of job creation and investment slowdown in Parliament, while the government maintains that India remains one of the top destinations for FDI and that policy reforms are aimed at long-term stability.
