India records highest-ever FDI of $94.53 billion in FY26, inflows since 2014 reach $843 billion: Piyush Goyal
India recorded its highest-ever annual Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26.
Cumulative FDI inflows from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26 reached USD 843 billion.
The announcement coincided with the 12th anniversary of the Make in India initiative.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes were cited as a key driver, having attracted substantial investment and generated employment.
Key sectors highlighted as major beneficiaries of the investment inflows included electronics, pharmaceuticals, and IT hardware.
FDI Regulatory Framework in India
FDI into India is governed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, which replaced the earlier Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), 1973. Investment proposals are classified as either "automatic route" (no prior government or RBI approval needed) or "government route" (requiring prior approval), depending on the sector.
Key Details
- FEMA, 1999 shifted India's foreign exchange regime from criminal-law enforcement (FERA) to a civil, management-oriented framework
- The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issues and periodically updates the Consolidated FDI Policy
- Automatic route covers most manufacturing and services sectors (100% FDI permitted in many); government route applies to sensitive sectors such as defence beyond specified caps, and multi-brand retail
- The Reserve Bank of India administers compliance and reporting under FEMA regulations
The record USD 94.53 billion inflow and USD 843 billion cumulative figure are outcomes of the liberalised automatic-route framework progressively expanded since 2014, which allowed easier entry for foreign capital into manufacturing-linked sectors such as electronics and pharmaceuticals.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
The PLI scheme is a Central Sector scheme launched in 2020 to boost domestic manufacturing, reduce import dependence, and enhance global competitiveness by offering financial incentives to companies based on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India.
PLI-linked investment is presented as a direct contributor to the FY26 FDI record, particularly in electronics and pharmaceuticals — sectors named as top beneficiaries — since PLI incentives are designed to attract exactly this kind of foreign manufacturing capital.
Make in India Initiative
Make in India is a flagship national programme launched on 25 September 2014 to transform India into a global manufacturing and design hub, aiming to raise the manufacturing sector's share of GDP and generate large-scale employment.
Key Details
- Launched by the Government of India in 2014; coordinated by DPIIT under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Original objectives included raising manufacturing's share of GDP to 25% and creating 100 million additional manufacturing jobs by 2022 (targets under review/revision over time)
- Works in tandem with Ease of Doing Business reforms and sector-specific FDI liberalisation to attract foreign capital
- PLI (2020) is widely viewed as the second-generation policy instrument building on the original Make in India push
The FDI record was announced on the initiative's 12th anniversary, framing the cumulative USD 843 billion (2014-15 to 2025-26) inflow as the measurable outcome of the decade-long Make in India and associated liberalisation push.
- FDI in FY 2025-26: USD 94.53 billion (highest-ever annual figure)
- Cumulative FDI, FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26: USD 843 billion
- Make in India launched: 25 September 2014 (anniversary noted: 12th anniversary, September 2026)
- PLI outlay: approximately Rs 1.9–2 lakh crore across 14 sectors [figure varies slightly across official releases, Rs 1.91–1.97 lakh crore cited]
- PLI actual investment (as of March 31, 2026): Rs 2.40 lakh crore
- PLI production/sales: Rs 23.8 lakh crore; PLI exports: Rs 15.2 lakh crore
- Jobs generated under PLI: over 14.6 lakh (direct + indirect)
- Sectors cited as key beneficiaries: electronics, pharmaceuticals, IT hardware