NEW DELHI: In the financial year 2017-18, Defence industries in the country have received only a dismal $10,000 (about Rs 7 lakh) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary told Parliament in a written reply on Monday.
In 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, Defence industries had attracted $0.82 million, $0.08 million and $0.10 million foreign inflows respectively. In 2016-17, the industries failed to attract any FDI.
Meanwhile, as many as six sectors, including coal production, ports, dyestuffs and coir industries, have failed to attract any FDIs during the last financial year, according to the data shared by Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha.
The minister said that the government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for FDI, wherein most of the sectors are open under the automatic approval route.
“FDI is largely a matter of private business decisions and FDI inflows depend on a host of factors such as availability of natural resources, market size, infrastructure, and general investment climate as well as macroeconomic stability and investment decision of foreign investors,” he said.
India imports 70 per cent of its military hardware from different countries. The growth rate of foreign direct investment in India recorded a five-year low of 3 per cent at USD 44.85 billion in 2017-18.