Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into India contracted by 16 per cent to $43.17 billion during the April-December 2021 period, according to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The inflows had stood at $51.47 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The total FDI inflows (which includes equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital) aggregated at $60.34 billion during the nine month period of the current fiscal year as against $67.5 billion in the year-ago period.

The equity inflows in the third quarter of this fiscal (October-December 2021) also declined to $12 billion as against $21.46 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, the data showed.

The total FDI inflows fell to $17.94 billion during the third quarter as against $26.16 billion in the year-ago period.

During April-December 2021, Singapore was at the top with $11.7 billion worth of investments.

It was followed by the US ($7.52 billion), Mauritius ($6.58 billion), Cayman Islands ($2.74 billion), Netherlands ($2.66 billion) and UK ($1.44 billion).

The computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows of $10.25 billion during the nine-month period of this fiscal.

It was followed by the automobile industry ($5.96 billion), services sector ($5.35 billion), construction (infrastructure) activities ($1.6 billion) and pharma ($1.2 billion), the data showed.