Team Blitz India
Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament last week that foreign direct investment (FDI) in India had increased by USD 9,000 million since 2018-19 and that it indicated the “confidence of the foreign investors in the business atmosphere of the country.”
The Minister was responding to a question in Parliament on FDI in India. Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) member of Parliament (MP) G. Ranjith Reddy and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanizmozhi Karunanidhi asked for the “reaction of Government on the number of foreign businesses leaving the country surpassing the new entrants since 2018”.
They cited figures that show that between 2018 and March 2023, 559 foreign companies ceased their operations in India, while 469 began the operations. The Minister was asked “whether it means that country is not providing the business atmosphere in spite of investors reluctant to go to China, particularly after pandemic” and what remedial measures were being taken by the Government in this regard.
Sitharaman said that this data only pertained to companies that had opened up places of business in India and added that many foreign companies instead invested in India through local subsidiaries.
“During 2018-19 to 2022-23 (up to November), 7,946 foreign companies registered their Indian subsidiary company. It is also observed from the data available on the website of DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) that overall FDI in India has increased from USD 62,001 million in 2018-19 to USD 71,355 million (provisional figure) in 2022-23,” she said Sitharaman also said that opening or closing places of business in India or starting work with Indian subsidiaries was a “commercial business decision”, which depended on various factors such as operational viability, market size and internal decisions on whether or not to work in particular geographical areas.
