new delhi foreign direct investment fdi equity inflows into india crossed the 500 billion milestone during april 2000 to september 2020 period firmly establishing the countrys credentials as a safe and key investment destination in the worldaccording to the data of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade dpiit the inflows during the period stood at 50012 billionabout 29 per cent of the fdi came through the mauritius route it was followed by singapore 21 the us the netherlands japan each 7 and the uk 6india received 14471 billion from mauritius and about 106 billion from singapore during the period under reviewthe other big investors have been from germany cyprus france and cayman islandssince 201516 fdi inflows have been recording significant growth in that fiscal the country received usd 40 billion fdi an increase of 35 per cent over the previous year in 201617 201718 201819 and 201920 the investments stood at usd 435 billion usd 4485 billion usd 4437 billion and usd 50 billion respectivelythe key sectors which attracted the maximum of these inflows include services segment computer software and hardware telecommunications trading construction development automobile chemicals and pharmaceuticalsindian fdi journey began with enactment of fema that replaced the draconian fera in 1999 looking back the halftrillion dollar fdi in india is an indication of foreign investors firm belief in indias strong economic fundamentals stable political outlook and sustained economic growth which generated returns for investors even during the global recession of 200708 nischal arora partner regulatory nangia andersen india saidhe said as the country cautiously steps into the next decade under the shadow of the ongoing pandemic it is imperative that the government continues its measures to attract fdi in the manufacturing and highend technology sectorsrajat wahi partner deloitte india said fdi equity inflows crossing 500 billion is indeed a great milestone and continues to show the trust and faith that the global investors have in indias growing economythis growth is a strong reflection of the market potential of india coupled with the steady state of market reforms that india has undertaken since 2000 including opening up of various sectors of the economy to 100 per cent fdi over the last 5 years he saidwhen asked about what more steps the government can take to give a legup to increase fdi wahi said while the overall market potential of india will always be high given the large population many other factors like ease of doing business land labour laws tax rates availability of talent logistics and political stability also play important role in attracting fdi to any countrywhile we have improved significantly across many of these areas over the last decade and especially over the last 5 years there is still a long way to go for us to be able to compete with countries like china and other markets like vietnam thailand and malaysia he addedhowever gunjan shah partner private equity merger acquisitions general corporate shardul amarchand mangaldas said i would not attribute