Foreign Direct Investment or FDI flows into India during April increased by 43 per cent to $3.12 billion from the $2.17 billion for the same month in the preceding year, after witnessing a decline in the preceding three months, reports said.

Singapore tops the list with the inflow of $1.17 billion, followed by Mauritius ($976 million), Japan ($235 million), France ($220) and Cyprus ($170 million).

Mauritius, Singapore, the US, UK, Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UAE are the major investors in India.

During the month, services sector attracted maximum FDI inflow of $658 million, followed by construction activities ($311 million), power ($256 million), computers and hardware ($96 million), telecommunications ($46 million) and housing and real estate ($38 million).

In January, February and March 2011, foreign investment inflows dipped by 48 per cent ($1.2 billion), 30 per cent ($1.04 billion) and 11 per cent ($1 billion), respectively, vis-a-vis the corresponding period in the previous year.

During the last fiscal, FDI declined by 25 per cent to $19.4 billion from the $25.83 billion in 2009-10, and also lower than the $27.33 billion invested in the previous fiscal.

However, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has initiated steps, including consolidation of all related rules and regulations into a single document, to encourage FDI in the country.

Relaxing FDI norms, the DIPP recently allowed Indian companies to issue equity against the import of capital goods and liberalized the conditions for foreign investment for production and development of seeds.

RTTNews