FDI jumps 40.51 pc to 3.26 bn in Aug

India received foreign direct investment of USD 3.26 billion in August, a robust growth of 40.51 pc over the same month last year, in spite of the persisting global financial crisis.

FDI inflows, in August last year, stood at USD 2.32 billion, the Reserve Bank said in its bulletin.

The country attracted USD 3.51 billion FDI in July this year against USD 2.25 billion in the same month last fiscal.

Portfolio investment in August also increased by 56.15 percent to USD 926 million compared to USD 593 million, the bulletin said.

The total FDI inflows during April-August, however, contracted by about 3.41 percent to USD 14.14 billion compared to the same period in 2008-09, due to poor accruals in the opening months of the fiscal. In the first five months of 2008-09, it was at USD 14.64 billion.

During the first five months of this fiscal, portfolio investment increased to USD 11.23 billion from USD 4 billion in the same period last year.

In 2008-09, the government had set a target of attracting USD 35 billion FDI, but was able to receive only USD 27.30 billion due the global financial crisis.