To promote foreign investment, the Government has put in place an investor  friendly policy, wherein most sectors, except certain strategically important sectors, are open for 100% FDI under the automatic route, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash said in reply to a parliamentary question today. Further, the policy on FDI is reviewed on an ongoing basis, to ensure that India remains an attractive and investor friendly destination. To simplify the approval process of foreign Investment and to promote ease of doing business, the erstwhile Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has been abolished in May 2017 and a new regime  has been put in place. Under the new regime, process for granting FDI approvals   has been simplified wherein the work relating to processing of applications for FDI has been delegated to the concerned Ministries/ Departments and DPIIT is the nodal department  for facilitating the process. Detailed standard operating  procedure for approval process has been issued by DPIIT. Further, all proposals seeking Government approval under FDI route are now filed on National Single   Window System (NSWS) Portal.

FDI policy provisions have been progressively liberalized and simplified across various sectors in the last eight years, such as Pension, Other Financial Services, Asset reconstruction Companies, Broadcasting, Pharmaceuticals, Single Brand Retail Trading, Construction & Development, Power Exchanges, e- commerce activities, Coal Mining, Contract  Manufacturing, Civil Aviation etc. In the recent past, reforms in the FDI Policy have been undertaken in sectors such as Defence, Insurance, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Telecom. FDI in defence sector is now allowed up to 74% (from earlier 49%) through automatic route for companies seeking new industrial license. In insurance sector, FDI limit has been raised from 49% to 74% for insurance companies under the automatic route and foreign ownership and control has been allowed with safeguards. FDI up to 20% in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been permitted under automatic   route. Further, FDI up to 100% under the automatic route has been permitted in Telecom sector. Details of Sectors wherein in FDI has increased in past 8 years, as compared to preceding 8 years is placed below:

Details of Sectors wherein in FDI has increased in past 8 years, as compared  to preceding 8 years, in descending order of FDI Equity Inflow from April 2014 to March 2022 (excluding reinvested earnings, other capital and equity in incorporated bodies)

Details of top 10 sectors that comprise more than 75% of FDI Equity inflow (excluding reinvested earnings, other capital and equity in incorporated bodies) received in the country during the last three financial years (from April 2019 to March 2022) are as under: