The RBI said more than 97% of the responding DI entities were unlisted in March 2025, and that captured most of the FDI equity capital in India. File
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The U.S. and Singapore together accounted for over one-third of the FDI in India during 2024-25, according to the Reserve Bank’s census on foreign liabilities and assets of Indian direct investment entities.
The Central bank on Wednesday (29, 2025) released the provisional results of the 2024-25 round of the annual census on foreign liabilities and assets (FLA) covering cross-border liabilities and assets of the Indian entities.
Out of the 45,702 entities which responded in the latest census, 41,517 reported foreign direct investment (FDI) and/or overseas direct investment (ODI) in their balance sheet for March 2025, RBI said.
Of these entities, 33,637 had also reported in the previous census round, and 7,880 have newly reported in the current round.
Over three-fourths of the companies that reported inward direct investment were subsidiaries of foreign companies (single foreign investor holding more than 50% of total equity).
“The United States and Singapore together accounted for over one-third of the FDI in India; other top sources included Mauritius, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands,” it said.
In the case of ODI, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom were the top destinations.
Of the total FDI during 2024-25 was ₹68,75,931 crore, the share of the U.S. was 20%, followed by Singapore (14.3%), Mauritius (13.3%), the U.K. (11.2%) and the Netherlands (9%).
The manufacturing sector accounted for the highest share of total FDI equity capital at market value (48.4%) as well as at face value (37.8%). The services sector was the second-highest shareholder in total FDI equity capital at market value.
The FDI was at ₹61,88,243 crore in the preceding year.
In case of outward direct investment (₹11,66,790 crore), the share of Singapore was 22.2%, followed by the U.S. (15.4%), the U.K. (12.8%) and the Netherlands (9.6%) during 2024-25.
The RBI further said more than 97% of the responding DI entities were unlisted in March 2025, and that captured most of the FDI equity capital in India.
Non-financial companies held 90.5% of the FDI equity at face value.
In terms of market value, the growth of ODI (17.9%) outpaced the growth of FDI (11.1%) in India, in rupee terms, during 2024-25. As a result, the ratio of inward to outward DI stood at 5.9 times in March 2025 as compared to 6.3 times a year ago.
Published – October 29, 2025 08:15 pm IST
