Why is India’s FDI falling despite its growth story, and why is India struggling to attract foreign investment at the scale its economy needs? In this episode of The Core Report Weekend Edition, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Ketan Dalal, Managing Director, Katalyst Advisors, and Sudhir Kapadia, Senior Board Advisor and Ex-National Tax Leader at EY India, to unpack India’s foreign direct investment challenge. The conversation looks beyond the headline FDI numbers to understand what is really happening to foreign investment in India. Is the fall in net FDI a warning sign, or does it partly reflect successful investor exits? Why are gross FDI, private equity flows, foreign portfolio investment, outbound investment, rupee pressure, and dollar inflows all part of the same larger story? Ketan Dalal explains why India’s real FDI problem may lie in on-ground constraints such as land availability, industrial clusters, logistics costs, power, judicial delays, policy uncertainty, and ease of doing business. Sudhir Kapadia explains why tax certainty, capital gains treatment, withholding tax, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and long-term policy stability matter if India wants patient foreign capital. The discussion also explores why India needs more strategic FDI in manufacturing, not just private equity-led investment or secondary buyouts. From AI and semiconductors to green energy, GCCs, infrastructure, global supply chains, and sector-led policy focus, the episode asks what India must do to turn its growth story into a stronger foreign investment story. Can India unclog its FDI pipeline and make foreign investors more confident about investing in India? #IndiaFDI #ForeignInvestment #IndianEconomy #FDI #TheCoreReport #TheCore
