FDI in April-Oct declines to $12.40 b

• In what could be termed as a matter of concern, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined sharply by 37.84 per cent to $12.40 billion during April-October this year as compared to $19.95 billion in the corresponding period last year.
• According to official data released by the Commerce Ministry, total FDI during January-October 2010 reached $17.37 billion, something that is being termed as a matter of concern.
• However, experts believe that this could give a push to the efforts by the Government to open up some sensitive sectors for FDI particularly the multi-brand retail and defence that has been hanging fire for quite some time due to political opposition.
• India received $25.89 billion foreign direct investment in 2009-10 and has set a target of $33 billion FDI in the current fiscal.