Global flux fails to affect India’s FDI, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Union minister of state for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that several measures taken by the government to improve the ease of doing business and relax foreign investment norms in several sectors have led to a spike in global investors interest in the Indian markets.

While foreign direct investment in several countries have shown a sharp decline over the last one-year, India stood out from the rest of the world by posting a 38 per cent growth in FDI.

“Investors interest is riding high only in India. We have seen a 38 per cent rise in FDI when other countries had witnessed a negative growth in FDI,” she said while addressing the curtain-raiser press conference for Make In India (MII) week to be held in Mumbai.

On the issue of consistent fall in India’s exports, the minister said that the government is holding discussion with the industry to address their concerns. “”All of us do know the extraneous factors which cause the exports to fall particularly economies where we have been traditionally exporting,” she said.

However, she added that the government is helping the exporters in the form of improving the ease of doing business by addressing the issue of cost of capital, faster clearances at the port and other custom related process.