India Attracted $22 Billion in FDI Even during Coronavirus Pandemic, Says NITI Aayog Chief

India's FDI regime is the most liberal in the world, and even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has attracted over $22 billion worth of direct investments, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Saturday.

He further said almost 90 per cent plus of the $22 billion foreign direct investment in India during the pandemic came through the automatic route.

"Our FDI regime is the most liberal in the world. We have continued to attract huge amount of investments. During the pandemic itself, India attracted over 22 billion worth of direct investments into India," he said at CII's 'India@75' virtual event.

Kant pointed out that India has jumped up about 79 positions in the World Bank's ease of doing business. "Our hope is that this year we will get into top 50," he said.

The Niti Aayog CEO said that if India wants to transform then it needs a programme like aspirational district programme. Aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform 112 districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.