Oct FDI inflows drop 36.6 percent

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India declined by 36.6 percent in October to $1.23 billion compared with $1.94 billion a year ago, a government statement said on Friday.

Total FDI inflows in the first seven months for the current fiscal year that ends in March were down 15 percent from a year earlier at $12.6 billion, compared with $14.79 billion during the year-ago period, the statement said.

With a struggling economy, that grew at its slowest pace in a decade last fiscal year due largely to a lack of corporate investment, India desperately needs to attract foreign investments to regain its growth momentum.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; editing by Malini Menon)