India not after Chinese FDI, says Goyal
Clarifies that there’s no rethinking in govt to support FDI from dragon country as was pitched by Economic Survey
image for illustrative purpose
As the US and Europe are shifting their immediate sourcing away from China, it is more effective to have Chinese companies invest in India and then, export the products to these markets rather than importing from the neighbouring country, the survey said
Fund flows from China:
- China at 22nd place in FDI into India
- $2.5-bn FDI from China in 24 yrs
- Trade deficit widens to $85 billion
New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said there is no rethinking in the government to support foreign direct investments (FDI) from China as was pitched by the Economic Survey recently.
He said it was a report that always speaks about new ideas and gives out their own thinking. The Survey, he said, is not at all binding on the government and there is no thinking on supporting Chinese investments in the country.
“There is no rethinking at present to support Chinese investments in the country,” the Minister told reporters here. In 2020, the government made its approval mandatory for FDI from countries that share landed border with India. Countries, which share land borders with India, are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
The Minister was responding on a pitch made by the pre-Budget Economic Survey on July 22 for seeking FDI from China to boost local manufacturing and tap the export market. As the US and Europe are shifting their immediate sourcing away from China, it is more effective to have Chinese companies invest in India and then, export the products to these markets rather than importing from the neighbouring country, the survey had said. India faces two choices to benefit from the ‘China plus one strategy’ -- it can integrate into China’s supply chain or promote FDI from China.
“Among these choices, focusing on FDI from China seems more promising for boosting India’s exports to the US, similar to how East Asian economies did in the past. Moreover, choosing FDI as a strategy to benefit from the China plus one approach appears more advantageous than relying on trade. This is because China is India’s top import partner, and the trade deficit with China has been growing,” it has added.
