IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON FDI INFLOWS INTO INDIA

In India, FDI inflows is a key indicator of the confidence investors have in its economy. The key purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on FDI inflows into India. A regression model was built using pre-COVID to predict the FDI growth in each month. It has been observed that changes in exchange rate and foreign reserve have a statistically significant impact on FDI growth, where-as changes in IIP (Index of Industrial Production) do not. The predicted values were then compared with the actual FDI growth, during the pandemic. Though the regression model was robust and sound, very large differences in predicted and actual FDI growth was found during the pandemic. This indicates that the pandemic has altered the dynamics of FDI growth in India.