FDI in services sector up 46% in 2014-15
15 Jun 2015 11:56 PM GMT
With the government taking steps to improve ease of doing business and attracting investments, FDI inflows into the services sector grew by over 46 <g data-gr-id="32">per cent</g> to $3.25 billion in 2014-15.
The services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $2.22 billion in 2013-14.
However, the total foreign inflow in 2014-15 in the services sector was low as compared to 2012-13 when it was $4.83 billion, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) data.Â
The government has announced a series of steps such as fixing timeliness for approvals to improve the ease of doing business in the country and attracting domestic as well as foreign investments.Â
In step with the growth in FDI in important sectors like services, overall foreign inflows in the country too rose by 27 <g data-gr-id="26">per cent</g> to $30.93 billion during the previous fiscal.
The amount was $24.29 billion in 2013-14. Services contribute about 60 per cent to India?s GDP and it receives high foreign inflows in this sector.
The other sectors where inflows have recorded growth telecommunications ($2.89 billion), automobiles ($2.57 billion) and computer software and hardware ($2.20 billion). To attract investment in the services sector, the government has raised the FDI cap in insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. The policy was also relaxed in other sectors such as defence, railways and medical devices.
Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion in the next five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.
Growth in foreign investments helps improve the country?s balance of payments (BoP) situation and strengthen the rupee.Â
<g data-gr-id="52">Comexes</g>’ turnover up 17% in Apr-May
 Total turnover of the commodity exchanges rose by 16.63 per cent to Rs 11.11 lakh crore in the first two months of the current fiscal on account of higher trade volumes in energy and <g data-gr-id="56">agri</g>-commodities, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).Â
These exchanges had done business worth Rs 9.52 lakh crore in the April-May period of last fiscal, 2014-15, the commodity markets regulator FMC said in its latest report. Maximum volumes <g data-gr-id="54">was</g> generated in energy items like crude oil, followed by agricultural and metals. As per the FMC data, the turnover from energy items like crude oil rose by 55 per cent to Rs 3.22 lakh crore till May of this fiscal from Rs 2.07 lakh crore in the year-ago period.Â
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