Maharashtra pips Delhi NCR again as race for FDI gets hotter in Q3

Delhi's nine-month show slightly better than western state's due to huge lead in Q1 inflows

In a neck-and-neck race, the Maharashtra region has once again pipped Delhi National Capital Region in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the third quarter of the current financial year. 

While the region consisting of Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, drew $2.71 billion or Rs 19,715 crore of FDI, Delhi NCR got RS 2.6 billion or Rs 18,896 crore in the October-December 2018, according to the latest figures released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The trend in the second quarter was much more pronouned in Maharashtra region's favour. The area received $2.9 billion or Rs 20,479 crore, while Delhi NCR attracted only $1.6 billion or Rs 11,196 crore. 

In the first quarter of the current financial year it was the Delhi NCR that left the Mahrashtra region far behind, garnering $4.1 billion or Rs 27,241 crore, compared with Maharashtra's $2.4 billion or Rs 16,152 crore. 

Due to first quarter FDI inflows, the Delhi region received moderately higher cumulative FDI inflows for the first nine months of the current financial year, at $8.3 billion or Rs 57,333 crore, while the Maharashtra region got $8 billion or Rs 56,346 crore. 

Delhi NCR, consisting of Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, and the Gurgaon-Manesar belt in Haryana, has been witnessing huge interest from foreign players. 

For instance, China-based handset maker Oppo is setting up a greenfield electronic manufacturing cluster in Greater Noida.

The project is expected to receive a total investment of Rs 3500 crores over a period of 5-10 years. Also, the biggest Chinese private property developer Dalian Wanda Group expressed its interest in investing in lifestyle and commercial real estate in Greater Noida. The $86 billion worth company decided to invest in Greater Noida after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Beijing. 

Then, Scartlet, a Dutch telecom company, announced its plan to set up an electronic product manufacturing company in Greater Noida. Foreign investment in this sector is of great significance because at present, there is no electronic chip manufacturing or semiconductor wafer fabrication plant in India. In India, domestic electronics requirement is entirely met through imports.

Overall in the country, FDi dropped for the first time under the current regime, going down by 7 per cent in the April-December period of FY19.

The figures showed that FDI inflows reduced to $33.5 billion over the period, down from almost $36 billion in the same period of the previous year.

A close look at the RBI’s data shows a marked slowdown in FDI. In the first financial year (2014-15) of the current government, FDI shot up by 25 per cent. This growth rate has fallen to just 3 per cent in 2017-18, according to latest statistics.