In yet another incident of the Congress party spreading fake news to target the Modi government, the party has made a false claim regarding FDI into the country from China. On 4th January, the official Twitter handle of the Congress party posted an ‘infographic’, which claimed that under the Modi government, Chinese FDI into India has been increasing.
The chart posted by the Congress party showed that from $2.8 billion in 2017, the Chinese FDI into India rose to $3.94 billion in the next year and $4.14 billion in the year 2019. The party also said that during UPA govt, the amount was $0.3 billion in 2011, $0.31 billion in 2012 and $2.7 billion in 2013.
This shows, while the Congress alleged that Chinese FDI increased during Modi govt, the same had also increased during the UPA government. In fact, their own claim shows a significant jump from 2012 to 2013.
But the fact is, the figures posted by Congress for the Modi government are completely fake, as actually the Chinese FDI has been coming down in the recent years, reflecting the increased tension between the two nations.
Contrary to the claims made by the Congress party, Chinese FDI into India during the financial year 2019-20 was only USD 163.77 million, not $4.14 billion. Moreover, it has come down in the last three years. It was $350.22 million in 2017-18, and $229.0 million in 2018-19.
These figures were revealed by minister of state for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur in Lok Sabha on 14th September last year, responding to a question on the matter.
It is not that the Congress party lied about Chinese FDI during the BJP government, they also lied about the same during the UPA government. While they claimed $2.7 billion FDI in 2013, actually the Chinese FDI in India has never crossed $1 billion. The amount was $148 million in 2013, which had decreased to $121 million in the following year. The figure had reached $505 million in 2015, after that, it has been coming down.
It is notable that to curb Chinese takeover of Indian firms taking the opportunity of weakened financial position of companies due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the govt of India has tightened the norms for FDI from China. In April this year, the union government had issued a Press Note 3 wherein it had informed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from countries that share a border with India will only be allowed after Government approval.
While the rule does not name China, the fact that it targets countries that share land border with India makes it clear that the main target of the rule is China.