India's outward FDI halves to $5.47 bn in June

India's outward FDI halves to $5.47 bn in June

Overseas investments by Indian companies halved to USD 5.47 billion in June, while Mundra Port and Bharti Airtel emerged as the top players in committing investments abroad.

Outward flows totalled USD 12.27 billion in June 2010.In the first three months of this fiscal (April-June), outward FDI stood at USD 10.57 billion.The is much lower than USD 18.26 billion recorded in the June quarter of 2010-11.

As per the RBI data released on Tuesday, Indian firms issued financial guarantees worth USD 3.9 billion, loans worth USD 937 million and contributed USD 641.37 million towards equities.Mundra Port and SEZ extended a guarantee of USD 2.25 billion to its wholly-owned subsidiary Mundra Port PTY Ltd in Australia, RBI said. The subsidiary is engaged in construction activities.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel made overseas investments worth USD 494.5 million through three separate deals last month.The total investment was spread across the Netherlands (USD 140 million), Singapore (USD 350 million) and Mauritius (USD 4.5 million).As per the RBI data, the other major players include, RHC Holding Private Ltd (Mauritius), Suzlon Energy (Mauritius) and Aurbindo Pharma (USA).

While FDI outward data is available for the first quarter, latest figures for inward foreign direct investment is only till May.FDI inflows saw a whopping 111 per cent increase in May at USD 4.66 billion, the second highest monthly inflows in 11 years.In May, 2010, the inflows had totalled USD 2.21 billion.For the April-May period of the current fiscal, the FDI went up by a huge 77 per cent to USD 7.78 billion from USD 4.39 billion in the corresponding period last year.