India overtakes China as top FDI destination: Report

India overtakes China as top FDI destination: Report
In a comparison between Indian and Chinese states, Gujarat emerged as the top ranked state in terms of FDI

India has knocked China off the pedestal of being the world's top foreign direct investment (FDI) destination, says a report from fDi Intelligence — a division of Financial Times.

Citing the report, the Financial Times reported that India, with $63 billion of FDI announced in 2015, has taken the top rank in the list of countries in terms of greenfield capital investment.

Additionally, according to the report, India's project numbers increased by 8% to 697, although they still lagged behind China’s 789 projects.

The report said: "For the first time in many years, China was a laggard on regional FDI growth rather than an engine: it saw a 23 per cent decline in capital investment and a 16 per cent drop in FDI projects due to plateauing economic growth and rising costs."

Citing the reason behind India usurping China's position, the report said: "India replaced China as the top destination for FDI by capital investment following a year of high-value project announcements specifically across the coal, oil and natural gas and renewable energy sectors."

The report comes even as the Indian government finally allowed 100% FDI in the e-commerce sector.

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) statement from earlier this month supports the report's findings.

The RBI, on April 11, said that FDI in the country increased to $42 billion during April-February in 2015-16, up 27.45% from the inflows in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

According to the report, in a comparison between Indian and Chinese states, Gujarat emerged as the top ranked state in terms of FDI — attracting $12.4 billion of capital investment in 2015.

A comparative table, titled "FDI into Chinese and Indian states by capital investment", from the report shows that Gujarat took the top spot ahead of China's Shanghai Municipality — which attracted $10.57 billion in FDI in 2015.

China's Jiangsu came in third on the list with $9.53 billion, followed closely by Maharashtra at $8.28 billion.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand were the other Indian states featured on the list.