BENGALURU: With more than Rs 24,000 crore, Karnataka has reported a 77% increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow for the quarter ending March 31, 2021, compared to the same quarter previous year.
Analysis of FDI data from the ministry of commerce and industry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade shows that the state attracted Rs 24,457 crore in the January-March 2021 period, compared to Rs 13,761 crore between January and March 2020.
Industries minister Jagadish Shettar attributes the improvement to reforms introduced in the state which has boosted the investor confidence.
Among the top five states, only Tamil Nadu, whose base number is very low compared to Karnataka, posted a higher growth for the quarter ending March 31, 2021 compared to the same period last year.
Delhi and Gujarat posted negative growths of 30% and 7%, respectively.
Maharashtra grew by 40%.
Nationally, the growth was 44% to Rs 1.3-lakh crore compared to Rs 95,549 crore.
State industries commissioner Gunjan Krishna said: “Notwithstanding the challenges of the pandemic, we have been engaging with foreign firms almost every day.
There has been a conscious effort to keep up Brand Karnataka and make it more enticing.
There is still a lot of work to do.” State saw growth in all but 1st quarterWhile only Maharashtra earned more from FDI (Rs 41,807 crore) than Karnataka in the said quarter, Gujarat topped the table for the year.
Both western states got more than Rs 1-lakh crore in the financial year (2020-21).
Karnataka ended the financial year with Rs 70,645 crore, posting a growth in all but the first quarter (April-June 2020) which coincided with a nationwide lockdown that resulted in all economic activity coming to a standstill.
As reported by TOI earlier, despite the lockdown in the said period, the state had attracted Rs 10,254 crore, which was the most in the country.
However, it was lesser when compared to the immediate past quarter (Jan-Mar 2020) which had seen Rs 13,761 crore.
From there, the state reported a growth in each of the next three quarters: The Rs 17,203 crore in the July-September quarter was 67% more than the previous quarter.
And, Rs 19,995 crore in the October-December quarter was 16% more than what was attracted in July-September.
FDI in the January-March quarter is 22% more compared to the immediate past quarter (Oct-Dec 2020).