Indian Companies' Overseas Investments Grow 41%, Outpace Inward FDI in FY26: RBI

New Delhi, Nov 7 (KNN) Outstanding overseas direct investment (ODI) by Indian entities grew 40.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 16.71 lakh crore at end-March 2026, outpacing the 8.5 per cent increase in inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock to Rs 70.72 lakh crore, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest census.

Consequently, the ratio of inward FDI to ODI declined to 4.2 times from 5.5 times a year earlier. In dollar terms, inward FDI stood at USD 747.13 billion and ODI at USD 176.59 billion.

Investment Trends and Sectoral Shares

Outward equity investment rose to Rs 13.30 lakh crore from Rs 10.09 lakh crore, while debt investment nearly doubled to Rs 3.41 lakh crore from Rs 1.77 lakh crore. Inward FDI equity increased to Rs 68.45 lakh crore from Rs 63.04 lakh crore, while its debt component rose to Rs 2.27 lakh crore from Rs 2.13 lakh crore.

Manufacturing accounted for 50.2 per cent of outstanding FDI stock, followed by services at 44.8 per cent. Financial and insurance activities held Rs 11.45 lakh crore, or 16.2 per cent of total FDI, while telecommunications, computer programming, consultancy and related information services accounted for 14.8 per cent.

The United States was the largest source of FDI, with a 16.5 per cent share, followed by Mauritius (14.5 per cent), Singapore (13.7 per cent) and the United Kingdom (10.8 per cent). Singapore, the UAE and the US together accounted for more than half of India's outstanding ODI.

Unlisted Firms Dominate FDI Debt

The census covered 43,123 Indian entities reporting FDI and/or ODI, of which 41,814, or around 97 per cent, were unlisted.

Unlisted companies accounted for 97.9 per cent of FDI equity at face value and 96.6 per cent of outstanding FDI debt. However, listed and unlisted companies had nearly equal shares of FDI equity at market value. Non-financial companies held over 90 per cent of FDI equity at face value.

The RBI also reported year-on-year increases of 11.9 per cent in other investment liabilities and 16.1 per cent in other investment assets involving unrelated non-residents. These include trade credit, loans, currency, deposits and other payables.

The central bank clarified that changes in outstanding foreign assets and liabilities may differ from balance of payments flows, as stock figures also reflect valuation changes due to price and exchange-rate movements. Therefore, the 40.8 per cent rise in ODI stock does not represent an equivalent increase in fresh overseas investment flows.

(KNN Bureau)