Overseas FDI investments by Indian companies shot up by a robust 17 per cent to $37.7 billion in the calendar year 2024 from $32.29 billion in the previous year, reflecting the increasing strength of the country’s corporate sector in taking up foreign ventures.
Outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) equity investments, loans and guarantees issued to firms abroad. FDI comprising equity investments rose by as much as 40 per cent to $12.69 billion during 2024 from $9.08 billion in 2023.
Under the loan category, OFDI by Indian companies stood at $8.7 billion in 2024, up from $4.76 billion in the previous year. The guarantees issued by Indian firms to foreign firms, which also include their own subsidiaries, declined to $16.29 billion in 2024, compared to $18.44 billion in 2023.
Construction and engineering giant Larsen and Toubro’s (L&T’s) $2.4 billion investment in its Saudi Arabia subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Saudi Company, in February 2024 was the largest overseas investment by an Indian company in the year.
The company secured a $4 billion order from Saudi’s state-owned Aramco in FY24 for the gas company’s expansion projects, according to L&T’s exchange filings.
L&T’s power transmission and distribution arm has bagged “mega” orders valued between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 crore to expand and strengthen electricity grids in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The recent orders pertain to ±500kV HVDC transmission links associated with these interconnections, two 380kV overhead transmission lines and a bulk supply 380kV Gas Insulated Substation in Saudi Arabia and two major 400kV Gas Insulated Substations in UAE, according to a company statement.
The second largest foreign investment was made by public sector oil company Bharat Petroleum’s wholly owned subsidiary Bharat PetroResources which issued guarantees worth $669 million in August in favour of its international arm in Netherlands, BRPL International..
Bharat PetroResources is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production assets abroad which include the development of a large hydrocarbon field in Brazil.
The big deals also include an equity investment of $629 million by healthcare technology company, Sagility India, in its US-based wholly owned subsidiary, Sagility (US) Holding.
Among the other bog transactions of 2024 were a $385 million guarantee issued by Adani Ports and SEZ towards its joint venture in Isreal, Mediterranean International Ports ADGD, and a $440 million loan by Tata Steel to T Steel Holdings Singapore.
The countries in which the Indian companies have invested include Singapore, the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Malaysia.
(With inputs from IANS)
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