In October 2011, the country had attracted FDI worth USD 1.16 billion.
For the April-October period of this fiscal, however, FDI inflows have declined by about 27 per cent to USD 14.78 billion, from USD 20.29 billion in the year-ago period as overseas investment inflows were small in the initial months.
Sectors which received large FDI inflows in September include services (USD 3.6 billion), hotel and tourism (USD 3.11 billion), metallurgical (USD 1.21 billion), construction (USD 691 million) and automobile (USD 743 million).
For the first seven months of the fiscal, India received maximum FDI from Mauritius (USD 6.75 billion), Japan (USD 1.52 billion), Singapore (USD 1.24 billion) the Netherlands (USD 1.05 billion) and the UK (USD 611 million), the DIPP said.
The October figure is lower than the previous month when the country received highest FDI for a month in this fiscal. FDI inflows had more than doubled to USD 4.67 billion in September.
The inflows had aggregated to USD 36.50 billion in 2011- 12 against USD 19.42 billion in 2010-11 and USD 25.83 billion in 2009-10.
Foreign investments are important for India, which needs around USD 1 trillion in the next five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.
Decline in foreign investments will put pressure on the country's balance of payments (BoP) and could also impact the rupee.
