PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU (PIB)

Paper	Topics	Subject
PT Pickups	Increased FDI Inflows in FY 2020-21	Economic Issues
	Advanced Chaff Technology by DRDO for Naval Safety	S&T
	Blockchain Enabled Interface for Indian Spices	Governance

PT Pickups : Economic Issues

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Increased FDI Inflows in FY 2020-21

India has attracted the highest ever total FDI inflow of US$ 81.72 billion during the financial year 2020-21 and it is 10% higher as compared to the last financial year 2019-20 (US$ 74.39 billion).

FDI equity inflow grew by 19% in the F.Y. 2020-21 (US$ 59.64 billion) compared to the previous year F.Y. 2019-20 (US$ 49.98 billion).
In terms of top investor countries, Singapore is at the apex with 29%, followed by the U.S.A (23%) and Mauritius (9%) for the F.Y. 2020-21.
‘Computer Software & Hardware’ has emerged as the top sector during F.Y. 2020-21 with around 44% share of the total FDI Equity inflow followed by Construction (Infrastructure) Activities (13%) and Services Sector (8%) respectively.
Under the sector `Computer Software & Hardware, the major recipient states are Gujarat (78%), Karnataka (9%) and Delhi (5%) in F.Y. 2020-21.
Gujarat is the top recipient state during the F.Y. 2020-21 with a 37% share of the total FDI Equity inflows followed by Maharashtra (27%) and Karnataka (13%).
Out of top 10 countries, Saudi Arabia is the top investor in terms of percentage increase during F.Y. 2020-21. It invested US$ 2816.08 million in comparison to US$ 89.93 million reported in the previous financial year.

FDI Routes in India

There are three routes through which FDI flows into India. They are described in the following table:

Category 1	Category 2	Category 3
100% FDI permitted through Automatic Route	Up to 100% FDI permitted through Government Route	Up to 100% FDI permitted through Automatic + Government Route

Automatic Route FDI

In the automatic route, the foreign entity does not require the prior approval of the government or the RBI

Examples:

Medical devices: up to 100%
Thermal power: up to 100%
Services under Civil Aviation Services such as Maintenance & Repair Organizations
Insurance: up to 49%
Infrastructure company in the securities market: up to 49%
Ports and shipping
Railway infrastructure
Pension: up to 49%
Power exchanges: up to 49%
Petroleum Refining (By PSUs): up to 49%

Government Route FDI

Under the government route, the foreign entity should compulsorily take the approval of the government. It should file an application through the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which facilitates single-window clearance. This application is then forwarded to the respective ministry or department, which then approves or rejects the application after consultation with the DPIIT

Examples:

Broadcasting Content Services: 49%
Banking & Public sector: 20%
Food Products Retail Trading: 100%
Core Investment Company: 100%
Multi-Brand Retail Trading: 51%
Mining & Minerals separations of titanium-bearing minerals and ores: 100%
Print Media (publications/printing of scientific and technical magazines/speciality journals/periodicals and a facsimile edition of foreign newspapers): 100%
Satellite (Establishment and operations): 100%
Print Media (publishing of newspapers, periodicals and Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news & current affairs): 26%

Sectors where FDI is prohibited

There are some sectors where any FDI is completely prohibited. They are:

Agricultural or Plantation Activities (with exceptions like horticulture, fisheries, tea plantations, Pisciculture, animal husbandry, etc.)
Atomic Energy Generation
Lotteries (online, private, government, etc.)
Investment in Chit Funds
Trading in TDR’s
Any Gambling or Betting businesses
Cigars, Cigarettes, or any related tobacco industry
Housing and Real Estate (except townships, commercial projects, etc.)

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S&T

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Advanced Chaff Technology by DRDO for Naval Safety

DRDO has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard the naval ships against enemy missile attacks.
The successful development of Advanced Chaff Technology by DLJ is another step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to protect naval ships from enemy radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.

The importance of this development is that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for safety of the ships.

Defence Research and Development Organisation

DRDO works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
It is working to establish a world-class science and technology base for India and provides Defence Services decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions.
It was established in 1958 after combining the Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).
It is responsible for carrying out Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

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Governance

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Blockchain Enabled Interface for Indian Spices

Spices Board India and UNDP India's Accelerator Lab sign MoU to develop a blockchain-powered traceability Interface for Indian spices. This new interface will serve to enhance transparency in the supply chain and trade.

India is the largest exporter, producer and consumer of spices in the world.

What are Blockchains?

Blockchains are a new data structure that is secure, cryptography-based, and distributed across a network.
The technology supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and the transfer of any data or digital asset.
Spearheaded by Bitcoin, blockchains achieve consensus among distributed nodes, allowing the transfer of digital goods without the need for centralized authorisation of transactions.

How it operates?

The technology allows transactions to be simultaneously anonymous and secure, peer-to-peer, instant and frictionless.
It does this by distributing trust from powerful intermediaries to a large global network, which through mass collaboration, clever code and cryptography, enables a tamper-proof public ledger of every transaction that’s ever happened on the network.
A block is the “current” part of a blockchain which records some or all of the recent transactions, and once completed, goes into the blockchain as a permanent database.
Each time a block gets completed, a new block is generated. Blocks are linked to each other (like a chain) in proper linear, chronological order with every block containing a hash of the previous block.

Benefits of blockchain technology:

As a public ledger system, blockchain records and validate each and every transaction made, which makes it secure and reliable.
All the transactions made are authorized by miners, which makes the transactions immutable and prevent it from the threat of hacking.
Blockchain technology discards the need of any third-party or central authority for peer-to-peer transactions.
It allows decentralization of the technology.

About Spices Board

Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and the development of Cardamom (Small & Large).

The main functions of the Spices Board are the following:

(i) Research, Development and Regulation of domestic marketing of Small & Large Cardamom;

(ii) Post-harvest improvement of all spices;

(iii) Export promotion of all spices and assisting exporters in technology upgradation, quality management, brand promotion, research & product development;

(iv) Development of spices in the North East;

(v) Regulation of quality of spices for exports through its quality evaluation services; etc.