Outward FDI continues to fall y-o-y for 16 months in a row: RBI data

Investment by Indian companies in their overseas ventures fell year-on-year for 16 months in a row resulting in a cumulative fall of 53 per cent to $25 billion from $54 billion in the year-ago period, as per the Reserve Bank data.

The total investment by domestic companies in their ventures abroad during the last 16 months between April 2017 and July 2018 stood at $25.48 billion, a decline of 53 per cent from $54.18 billion in the year-ago period between April 2016 and July 2017.

The year-on-year declining trend continued for July with Indian companies' investment in their joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries abroad registering a fall of 36 per cent to $1.39 billion in July 2018 as against $2.17 billion in July 2017.

In June, the investment by Indian companies in their overseas ventures had fallen by 62 per cent year-on-year to $2.07 billion from $5.39 billion, as per the monthly summary on Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

A review of the monthly data on overseas direct investment by the apex bank reflects a continuous decline of year-on-year figures since April 2017 when it had fallen about 44 per cent to $3.15 billion in April 2017 from $5.61 billion in April 2016.

Of the $1.39 billion investment in July by domestic companies in their ventures outside the country, $608.52 million was in the form of equity capital, $406.74 million through loan and $371.86 million as issuance of guarantees.

The major investors in July 2018 were Shree Cement Ltd with an investment of $297.8 million in its wholly-owned subsidiary in United Arab Emirates, Serum International B.V. $187.39 million in Netherlands, JSW Steel $110.8 million in Netherlands, Sterlite Technologies Ltd $66.67 million in Italy, InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt Ltd $54.65 million in United Kingdom and JSW Steel $50.47 million in the United States of America.