The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the fourth largest investor in India during 2022-23, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data.
Key points
- In the last fiscal, foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UAE to India jumped over three-fold to USD 3.35 billion from USD 1.03 billion in 2021-22.
- The UAE was the fourth largest investor in India in 2022-23 compared to the seventh in 2021-22.
- Singapore was the largest investor in India with USD 17.2 billion investment in FY23, followed by Mauritius (USD 6.1 billion) and the US (USD 6 billion).
- UAE’s investments in India are mainly in sectors like services, sea transport, power and construction activities.
- One of the crucial factors for the increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) from UAE is the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE on February 18, 2022 (effective from May 1, 2022).
- India and the UAE have operationalised a comprehensive free trade agreement since May 1 2022.
- Under the pact, a number of goods from both countries are getting zero-duty access to each other’s markets, besides eased norms for promoting investments.
- The country accounts for about 2.5 per cent of the total FDI India received between April 2000 and March 2023. During this period, India has attracted USD 15.6 billion worth of overseas inflows from the UAE, the data showed.
