New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to India touched a record level of $51 billion during the April-February period of the last financial year, the government said on Monday.
"We have had a record inflow of FDI in this country, more than $51 billion from April to February, and that is the highest ever," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said here at an event hosted by industry chamber Ficci on intellectual property rights (IPR).
Abhishek said the FDI numbers show that the government has been able to create a suitable climate in which foreign investors feel confident that their interests are protected.
The government is making a lot of effort to improve ease of doing business which is critical for creating a suitable environment, he said.
"The complex procedures and delays which were the bane of our system for so many decades are now being gradually dismantled. Enormous efforts are being made to make sure that common citizen and business both have an easy time," Abhishek said.
He said protection of creativity and innovation is important to create a suitable climate in the country for technology to be developed or to come from outside.
"We need growth rate of double digits for the next three decades to improve the quality of life and eliminate poverty but that requires lot of efforts in investment side, IPR side and at other fronts," Abhishek said.
Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service said earlier this month that India's rising FDI inflows help reduce the current account deficit and also the external financing needs.
Net FDI inflows into India hit an all-time high in January 2016 at $3 billion on a 12-month moving average basis.
