Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India surged by 73 per cent last year, bringing in $47 billion, according to UNCTAD. The increase was “mainly due to large investments in services — including finance, IT (information technology), and R& D (Research and Development) — as well as manufacturing, supported by policies aimed at integrating India into global supply chains”, the UN trade agency said in a report released on January 22.
India’s FDI growth rate was among the highest. Investments in data centres in India totalled $7 billion during the first three quarters of last year, according to the latest issue of the Global Investment Trends Monitor. That put India in seventh place among the countries receiving investments for data centres during that period.
However, in the fourth quarter, FDI in the sector jumped significantly, making the sector ever more dynamic. Google announced in October that it was investing $15 billion in an AI hub in Andhra Pradesh.
In December, Microsoft announced $17.5 billion investments in AI and cloud infrastructure, and data centres. And also in December, Amazon said it would invest $35 billion in AI and other sectors. These investments are likely to be spread over a few years. Globally, the report said FDI increased last year by 14 per cent to $1.6 trillion.
