India Received $20 Billion in FDI During Coronavirus Pandemic: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla

“The success of the reforms launched by the Government is evident in the numbers. Even during the pandemic, we have received over USD 20 billion of FDI this year. While the global FDI declined by one per cent in 2019, FDI into India rose by 20 per cent in the same period,” he said. The foreign secretary said several global technology majors have announced significant investments in India including USD 10 billion by Google, USD 5 billion by Facebook and USD 1.2 billion by Mubadala the UAE Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Talking about India-UK economic partnership, he said the bilateral trade has been on an upward trajectory and touched 24 billion pounds in 2019 and that the country is the sixth largest investor in India with investments totalling USD 28.21 billion. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created severe economic challenges for both our countries. We can overcome these challenges by working together to create new opportunities for our business and industry,” said Shringla. He said under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ or self reliant India campaign, India has rolled out a stimulus package for the economy of about USD 270 billion.

The foreign secretary said research and development for vaccines for COVID-19 is a crucial area where there is potential for collaboration between India and the UK. “Serum Institute of India is already working with the Oxford University-Astrazeneca on their vaccine project. I talked about the role played by India’s pharmaceutical sector in meeting the global demand for essential medicines during the pandemic,” he said. “We are certain that our companies will play a similar role in the development of an affordable vaccine for COVID-19,” he added.