New Delhi : Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that India will continue to attract high foreign direct investment (FDIs) in the current financial year. He also talked about the "historic highs" of the country's foreign investment in the last seven years. Goyal was virtually addressing a meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industr (CII) and think tank Horasis India. "This year, we are very confident that we will continue this streak of seven continuous years of historic highs in our foreign investments," the Union minister said. Goyal said that India has received highest ever FDI in the Covid-impacted 2020, in contrast with a shrinkage in investment inflows globally.

In FY21, India received $81.72 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), the highest ever and 10% more than what was received in the year before, according to a commerce and industry ministry statement. Singapore, the United States and Mauritius are the top investors, the statement further noted.

The government said that this huge inflow is due to a series of policy steps taken to improve ease of doing business and to attract investments into domestic manufacturing capacity and an ambitious infrastructure project pipeline.

In the year before, India had attracted $74.39 billion in FDI, the ministry said.

Goyal further said on Saturday that India is in talks with 16 countries, including the UK, the EU, Australia, Canada, and the UAE, for trade agreements. "We have focused our efforts on a few very promising agreements where I can clearly see huge comparative advantages for India to get market access and the ability to trade both in goods and services in a much bigger way," Goyal said in his address. India has FTAs with several countries, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and ASEAN members.