RBI Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Indian Direct Investment Entities for 2024-25

Today, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the provisional results of the 2024-25 round of the annual census on foreign liabilities and assets (FLA) covering cross-border liabilities and assets of the Indian entities {viz., companies, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), alternative investment funds (AIFs) and partnership firms} with inward/outward direct investment (DI).

Out of the 45,702 entities which responded in the latest census, 41,517 reported foreign direct investment (FDI) and/or overseas direct investment (ODI) in their balance sheet for March 2025. Of these entities, 33,637 had also reported in the previous census round and 7,880 have newly reported in the current round. Over three-fourths of the companies that reported inward direct investment were subsidiaries of foreign companies (i.e., single foreign investor holding more than 50 per cent of total equity).

The census captures detailed information on (a) market value of liabilities and assets of Indian DI entities arising on account of cross-border direct and other investments; and (b) trade parameters (viz., activity sector, sales, purchase, exports, and imports), in addition to identification particulars of a reporting entity. The variations in outstanding assets / liabilities between the beginning and end of a financial year would be different from flows recorded in India’s balance of payments (BoP) statistics during the year, as the former would also include valuation changes due to price and exchange rate movements.

Main Findings of Census

• More than 97 per cent of the responding DI entities were unlisted in March 2025 and that captured most of the FDI equity capital in India.
• Non-financial companies held 90.5 per cent of the FDI equity at face value.
• The market value of total FDI in unlisted² companies surpassed that in listed companies as at end-March 2025.
• In terms of market value, the growth of ODI (17.9 per cent) outpaced the growth of FDI (11.1 per cent) in India, in rupee terms during 2024-25. As a result, the ratio of inward to outward DI stood at 5.9 times in March 2025 as compared to 6.3 time a year ago.
• Other investment liabilities {viz., trade credit, loans, currency and deposits, and other payable with unrelated (third party) non-resident entities} recorded a growth of 7.2 per cent during 2024-25 in the US dollar terms. Their corresponding assets also recorded a growth of 12.5 per cent during the year and covered 46.8 per cent of such liabilities.
• The United States and Singapore together accounted for over one-third of the FDI in India; other top sources included Mauritius, the United Kingdom and Netherlands. In case of ODI also, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom were the top destinations.
• Manufacturing sector accounted for the highest share of total FDI equity capital at market value (48.4 per cent) as well as at face value (37.8 per cent).
• The services sector was the second highest shareholder in total FDI equity capital at market value. Within services sector, more than 73 per cent of the FDI was received by ‘information and communication’ and ‘financial and insurance activities’.