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India Topples China To Become Top FDI Port: FT Mid Year Report

India Topples China To Become Top FDI Port: FT Mid Year Report
Womans finger on stack of coins
Joerg Steffens via Getty Images
Womans finger on stack of coins

In what will certainly cheer the government and buoy investor sentiment, a mid-year report from the London-based Financial Times Data service says that India has displaced China as the top destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

With USD 31 billion of foreign capital inflows, India has surpassed China and the US to take the top position in attracting the largest FDI in the first half of 2015, according to the FT report.

(The term 'H1' above, refers to the time frame between January and June 2015)

India has accelerated its investment profile from where it was at this time last year by more than doubling its mid-year investment levels, attracting USD 30 billion by the end of June 2015 compared with USD 12 billion in the first half of 2014.

Arun Jaitley, Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Information, and Broadcasting, was quick to take credit and tweet:

Satisfying, our efforts are paying off. India becomes the Highest FDI destination for Greenfield projects.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) September 29, 2015

The FT reports come a day after India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared 18 proposals worth more than Rs 5,000 crore, observed a Hindustan Times report. The FIPB is the nodal authority which scrutinises overseas investment proposals.

On Tuesday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan cut key lending rates by an unprecedented half-percentage point to stimulate Indian economy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a visit to the US, has also promised investors to "transform governance -- making it more transparent, accountable, accessible and participative". Over the last few days, Modi has met with several noted businesspersons in the Silicon Valley, pitching his pet Digital India initiative with the titans of the IT world.

In the year 2014, India was ranked almost at the bottom -- at number 142 -- in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' index, according to HT.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.