India's hottest FDI destinations; Maharashtra tops

India, China and Brazil are the top three target countries for foreign direct investment until the end of 2012 with the United States, for years number one, now in fourth place, the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD said recently.

With India attracting more and more FDI, let us find out which are the states in India that get the highest amount of FDI inflows.

1. Maharashtra

Maharashtra received the lion's share of the foreign direct investment inflows into India during April-August this fiscal, according to industry ministry's latest data.

The western Indian state attracted the highest FDI at $2.43 billion (Rs 11,154 crore), which is 35 per cent of the total FDI inflows in to the country, during the first five months of the current fiscal.

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2. National Capital Region

The National Capital Region, including parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, received $1.85 billion (Rs 8,476 crore) in FDI during the period. The region accounted for 20 per cent of the total FDI, making it the second most attractive destination for FDI in India.

Maharashtra and the National Capital Region (NCR) together accounted for over half the FDI inflows into the country.

During April-August 2010-11, India received $8.88 billion in FDI, the data said.

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3. West Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands together attracted the third highest FDI inflows worth $1.416 billion (Rs 6,050 crore) during the first five months of the current fiscal.

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4. Karnataka

Karnataka attracted the fourth highest FDI inflows worth $936 million (Rs 4,333 crore) during the period.

Sectors that attracted high levels of FDI include services, telecom, metallurgical industries, power, computer hardware and software, and construction activities.

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5. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh

The states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh together attracted $904 million (Rs 4,141 crore) worth of foreign direct investment.

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6. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh combined received $591 million (Rs 2,725 crore) in FDI from April to August 2010.

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7. Rajasthan

Rajasthan was the seventh most attractive FDI destination in India, attracting $475 million (Rs 2,246 crore) in all.

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8. Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh received $451 million (Rs 2,092 crore) during April-August 2010, making it the eighth most attractive state for FDI in India.

The highest FDI of $2.92 came from Mauritius, followed by Singapore ($1.08 billion), USA ($636 million), Japan ($515 million) and the Netherlands ($481 million) in April-August 2010-11.

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9. Kerala, Lakshadweep

Kerala and Lakshadweep attracted FDI worth $339 million (Rs 1,527 crore) in the fist five months of this fiscal.

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10. Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu was the 10th hottest FDI destination in India during the first five months of the current fiscal.

It attracted foreign direct investment to the tune of $316 million (Rs 1,457 crore) during the period.

The government at the Centre is making sustained efforts to make the FDI policy regime more attractive and investor friendly. It is considering to liberalise FDI in multi-brand retail and the defence sector.

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11. Goa

Goa got $291 million during the first five months of the current fiscal. The tourist attraction was the 11th hottest FDI spot in India.

FDI inflow into India during 2009-10 was $25.88 billion, 5 per cent lower than $27.33 billion in the previous fiscal.

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12. Orissa

Orissa, at $249 million (Rs 1,154 crore), was the 12th most attractive state in terms of attracting FDI in India in the April-August 2010 period.

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13. Gujarat

According to the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Gujarat managed to attract only $230 million (Rs 1,051 crore) FDI during the period.

And although it is ranked the 13th most appealing destination of foreign direct investment in India, Gujarat failed to perform as well as the some of the other states in terms of attracting FDI.

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14. Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal

Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal together managed to get $116 million (Rs 533 crore) worth of foreign direct investment from April to August 2010.

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15. Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura

Six of the North-Eastern states in India -- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura -- together managed to get $64 million (Rs 280 crore) worth of FDI in the first five months of the current fiscal.

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16. Bihar, Jharkhand

Bihar and Jharkhand together barely got any FDI inflows during the period. The two states together got only $0.4 million (Rs 2 crore) as foreign direct investment from April to August 2010.

Meanwhile, according to an expert, the main reasons for the maximum inflows in Maharashtra and NCR are substantial improvements in infrastructure and pro-active approach of the governments.

"Infrastructure in these areas has improved considerably and that is making them attractive destination for FDI in India," said Rakesh Joshi, an international trade expert at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.