FDI

With overseas equity-project investments in India having risen to $19.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026-27, there’s space for optimism. As global corporate decisions get increasingly complex, it’s vital for India to send out the right signals.

The country should aim to attract FDI that can embed India in global value chains, build export capacity, transfer technology and create competitive domestic supply chains. However, turning globally competitive to join value chains requires reform action on many key fronts simultaneously.

Uttar Pradesh aims to balance a massive infrastructure and tech-driven investment push with strict fiscal discipline, keeping its deficit under 3% of Gross State Domestic Product.

While the country has in the past provided recourse to arbitration abroad for overseas investors, this may not be necessary to attract foreign direct investment. Let India’s Brazil pact inspire the forthcoming rejig of its model bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

If India is to defend its currency sustainably, the country must attract and earn more dollars. Since what gets measured gets managed, we should reclassify FDI statistics to offer visibility on the capital inflows we most acutely need.

India has been putting in place the policies, digital infrastructure and human resources required to attract foreign investment in emerging fields of technology. This efforts should pay off as global capital reaches for rewarding destinations.

India's insurance market is becoming a magnet for global insurers, with South Korea's Hanwha Group and South Africa's Discovery among those evaluating opportunities after India allowed 100% foreign ownership. This is set to spur acquisitions and deepen competition across the under-penetrated sector.

Foreign visitors are an important source of foreign currency earnings. By one estimate, India’s mop-up from globe-trotters could double. But to draw the world’s tourists for more than just 'sightseeing,' Indian cities must improve.

India needs foreign capital but China’s global investment patterns merit some caution. Funding can bring knowledge and skill transfers but could also mean spillbacks into China of ideas picked up here. We need favourable flows.