Picture for a representative purpose.
Over the past 10 years, foreign investors have moved the preference from Delhi to Maharaštra and to some extent Gujarat. Although these three states remained among the highest foreign investment destinations in India, their shares have changed significantly since 2015–16.
Analysis of Hindu data on direct investment of foreign investment (FDI) from the Ministry of Trade and Industry shows that in 10 years 2015-25 regional concentration of direct foreign investment remained high, with only five countries between three-quarters and almost 90% of all FDI.
Maharashtra and Delhi remained every 10 years in the top 5 FDI destinations. However, their respective attraction turned direction. Delhi was 32% ($ 12.7 billion) of all FDIs in 2015-16, which is the highest this year. This dropped to $ 12% ($ 6 billion) by 2024-25.
On the other hand, Maharashtra recorded 39% ($ 19.6 billion) in 2015–16 ($ 19.6 billion) in the years 2024-25, which is the highest share this year in 2015–16 to 39% ($ 19.6 billion). Karnataka has been one of the nine of the last 10 years among the 5 most modern destinations of direct foreign investments and lost only with Andhra Pradesh in 2016-17. Karnataka attracted 10% of all direct foreign investments in 2015–16, which increased to 13% by 2024-25, the second highest share this year.
“The fact that the Maharashtra and Karnataka captured 51% of Indian foreign investments in 2024-25 is not just a statistics-it is not a revelation of the capital in uncertain times,” explained Rishi Shah, partner in Thornton Bharat.
Mr. Shah explained that because the global influx of direct foreign investments faces headwinds and investors become more aversion risk, they inevitably attract to established ecosystems that offer predictable returns and robust infrastructure.
“This“ flight of quality ”phenomenon means that states with ripe industrial corridors, first-class and proven political framework are the Maharashtra’s Financial Hub and Karnatak’s Bengalur Tech Ecosystem-se becoming compared to Emerging centers,” he said.
Gujarat also almost doubled his share in national direct foreign investments, from 6% in 2015–16 to 11% in 2024-25. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu – which recorded its share of 11% to 7% in this period – remained among the 5 best investment destinations for 8 and 7 in the last 10 years.
Published – 9 June 2025 9:17
