$59.63 billion, a 19 per cent increase from the previous year. During this period, total FDI, including capital equity and re-invested earnings, rose by 10 per cent to $81.72 billion, amid the downfall in investments across many developed economies.
Considering these figures, the minister expressed his confidence in the continuity of this upward trend. “This year, we are very confident that we will continue this streak of seven continuous years of historic highs in our foreign investments,” he said during the CII-Horasis India Meeting webinar last week. According to Goyal, India’s exports are also expected to report a healthy growth this year, since the outflow of goods during three weeks that ended on 21 July were valued at $22 billion. Accordingly, the country on track to achieving the target of $400 billion by December.
Highlighting the importance placed by New Delhi on global trade, the minister revealed that the government is currently in discussion with 16 countries, including some of the most developed economies, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and the UAE, for the inauguration of trade agreements.
“We have focused our efforts on a few very promising agreements where I can clearly see huge comparative advantages for India to get market access and the ability to trade both in goods and services in a much bigger way. The UK, EU, Australia, Canada, UAE are countries with whom we can very quickly expand our discussions and engagements,” he said.
