India receives $5.34 billion FDI in April-May

New Delhi: India received USD 5.34 billion foreign direct investment in the first two months of the current financial year, Parliament was informed Friday.

During April-May the country attracted USD 4.76 billion FDI under automatic route, while USD 582 million came through the approval route, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Meghwal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said the government has made changes in the FDI policy in several sectors "to ensure that India remains increasingly attractive and investor friendly investment destination".

The government has relaxed FDI Policy in sectors like defence, pharmaceuticals, aviation, food retailing and broadcast.

During the two months, defence received no FDI, while pharmaceuticals attracted USD 452.86 million foreign inflows.

The other sectors include air transport (USD 5.65 million), information and broadcasting (USD 39.2 million) and retail trading (USD 7.94 million).

Replying to a separate question, Meghwal said in the first quarter, April-June, of 2016-17 Foreign Portfolio Investors pumped in Rs 10,4561 crore.

"To attract global investor, a number of reforms were taken in the FDI policy and FPI policy," he added.