April FDI inflows up 25 percent at $2.3 billion: government

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India rose an annual 25 percent in April to $2.32 billion, the highest in the calendar year, a government statement said on Wednesday.

The data is a rare piece of good news for Asia's third largest economy, which has seen the rupee plunge to record lows and economic growth slowing to its worst pace in a decade.

The government plans to relax foreign investment limits in sectors such as defence, telecommunications and commodity exchanges later this month, as part of its efforts to finance a widening current account deficit and revive investment.

In the first four months of 2013, FDI inflows touched $7.8 billion, up one percent from a year ago, a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; editing by Matthias Williams)