New Delhi, 29 January: India continues to be the world’s largest recipient of remittances, receiving a total of 135.4 billion dollars in remittances during the financial year 2025. This inflow has contributed significantly to stabilising the country’s external accounts, according to the Economic Survey released on Thursday.
Presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, the survey highlights that the share of remittances from developed countries is increasing, with a growing proportion coming from skilled and professional workers.
The survey emphasises the need for integrated efforts to reduce manufacturing costs in order to enhance India’s export competitiveness.
Despite tightening global financial conditions, India has consistently attracted adequate gross investment, which stood at 18.5 percent of GDP in the financial year 2025.
According to data from UNCTAD, India remained the largest recipient of gross foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Asia, surpassing major Asian economies such as Indonesia and Vietnam.
In 2024, India ranked fourth globally in greenfield investment announcements, hosting over 1,000 projects. Between 2020 and 2024, India emerged as the top destination for greenfield digital investments, attracting 114 billion dollars.
Gross foreign portfolio investment (FPI) increased to 64.7 billion dollars during April-November 2025, compared to 55.8 billion dollars in the same period of 2024.
Furthermore, India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to 701.4 billion dollars as of 16 January, up from 668 billion dollars at the end of March 2025.
By the end of September 2025, the reserves were sufficient to cover nearly 11 months of goods imports and about 94 percent of outstanding external debt, providing a comfortable liquidity buffer.
The Economic Survey also notes that currency performance depends on the economy’s ability to generate domestic savings, maintain external balance, attract stable FDI, and develop export competitiveness based on innovation, productivity, and quality.
India’s external debt stood at 746 billion dollars at the end of September 2025, slightly higher than 736.3 billion dollars at the end of March 2025. The external debt-to-GDP ratio was 19.2 percent at September-end.
Additionally, external debt constitutes less than 5 percent of India’s total debt, reducing the risk in the external sector.
–
ABS/Patrika English