<P> Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India is the major monetary source for economic development in India . Foreign companies invest directly in fast growing private Indian businesses to take benefits of cheaper wages and changing business environment of India . Economic liberalisation started in India in wake of the 1991 economic crisis and since then FDI has steadily increased in India . It were Manmohan Singh and P.V. Narasimha Rao who brought FDI in India, which subsequently generated more than one crore jobs . According to the Financial Times, in 2015 India overtook China and the US as the top destination for the Foreign Direct Investment . 2016 2017In first half of the 2015, India attracted investment of $31 billion compared to $28 billion and $27 billion of China and the US respectively . </P> <P> There are two routes by which India gets FDI . </P> <Ul> <Li> Automatic route: By this route FDI is allowed without prior approval by Government or Reserve Bank of India . </Li> <Li> Government route: Prior approval by government is needed via this route . The application needs to be made through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which will facilitate single window clearance of FDI application under Approval Route . The application will be forwarded to the respective ministries which will act on the application as per the standard operating procedure . Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) which was the responsible agency to oversee this route was abolished on May 24, 2017 . It held its last meeting on 17th April, which was the 245th meeting of the Board. On 24 May 2017, Foreign Investment Promotion Board was scrapped by the Union Government. Henceforth, the work relating to processing of applications for FDI and approval of the Government thereon under the extant FDI Policy and FEMA, shall now be handled by the concerned Ministries / Departments in consultation with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce, which will also issue the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing of applications and decision of the Government under the extant FDI policy </Li> </Ul>

Liberalized foreign direct investment policy of the indian government