Winning Bizness Economic Desk

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into India has zoomed northward to its highest-ever in over four years in July of this year, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

The gross inflow into the country in July stood at USD 11.11-billion.

This is the highest-ever since May 2021, when USD 12.32-billion had come into the country on a gross basis.

In June, gross FDI inflows into the country stood at USD 9.57-billion, while the figure for July of last year (2024) was USD 5.54-billion—it was half the latest number.

A point that requires highlighting here is that more than three-fourths of the total inflows emanated from countries such as Singapore, the Netherlands, Mauritius, the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Among the top business sectors to receive robust inflows were manufacturing and services including communications, computer and business services.

On a net basis, USD 5.05-billion came in July as compared to USD 2.51-billion in June and an outflow of USD 2.69-billion a year ago.

Net FDI is calculated after adjusting for investments that are repatriated by foreign companies and overseas investments made by Indian companies.

An important point to note here is that FDI is a key indicator of the economy’s health and the confidence foreign investors have in the country.

India’s Industrial Production Expands 4 pc in August

The country’s industrial output based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased four per cent in August of this year, as compared with a much lesser 3.5 per cent a month ago, according to the latest IIP data released in end-September.

This higher growth was driven by an increase in production in mining, manufacturing and electricity segments.

“With the mining sector growth at six per cent, the All India Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a four per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) growth in August 2025,” the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said.

The growth rates of the three sectors—mining, manufacturing and electricity—for August stood at six per cent, 3.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively.

Importantly, Moody’s Ratings has affirmed India’s long-term local-and-foreign currency issuer ratings as well as the local currency senior unsecured rating at Baa3.

This move has come even as the country’s fiscal indicators are gradually improving.

“The stable outlook incorporates India’s gradually improving fiscal metrics and resilient growth prospects compared with peers,” Moody’s said in its statement.

The globally-renowned organisation maintained its outlook for the country as stable. However, it pointed to some long-standing fiscal challenges that still exist.

It said that strong GDP growth and fiscal consolidation will drive only a slow decline in the government’s high debt burden, insufficient to materially improve weak debt affordability—particularly as recent fiscal measures aimed at boosting private consumption erode the government’s revenue base.

Decade-high Navaratri Sales, Consumer Electronics Sector Performs Robustly

The country’s consumer economy has registered its highest-ever Navaratri sales in over a decade. This was made possible primarily due to the central government’s NextGen Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms.

The trimming of tax rates has not only brought them down but has also helped increase accessibility to several products.

These measures have lowered prices and unlocked consumer spending, leading to upgrades of vehicles, purchase of home appliances and increased spending on life-style goods.

Consequently, brands and retailers across sectors clocked significant sales growth, generally ranging from 25-to-100 per cent.

The festive season’s first-half includes Onam, Durga Puja and Dussehra—this is the country’s biggest consumption period and accounts for around 40-to-45 per cent of total festival sales.

One of the sectors to perform very well is the consumer electronics sector which clocked a high, double-digit growth compared to the last year.

Haier’s sales zoomed by 85 per cent with the company nearly selling out its Deepavali stock of 85-inch and 100-inch television sets. It also sold 300-to-350 units of 65-inch TV sets daily.

Large-screen TV sets, smartphones and fashion were the main propellants of Reliance Retail’s sales growth—it expanded by 20-to-25 per cent over last year’s Navaratri sales.

LG Electronics India also clocked a healthy growth while Vijay Sales, a leading electronics retail chain of the country clocked a northward climb in sales in excess of 20 per cent.

GST Collection Up 9.1 pc at Rs 1.89-lakh-crore in September

The country’s gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection increased healthily by 9.1 per cent on a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis in September of this year at Rs 1.89-lakh-crore, data from the Finance Ministry showed.

The figure corresponds to transactions carried out in August and reported in September.

The point to be highlighted here is that the September numbers have nothing to do with the GST rate cuts effected recently by the government.

In the year-ago month, the collection stood at Rs 1.73-lakh-crore.

An important point that needs highlighting here is that the September collection clearly reveals that there has not been any significant slowdown in economic activity in anticipation of the GST rate cuts during August as the numbers reflect transactions in August of this year.

In August, the GST revenue mop-up increased 6.5 per cent YoY to Rs 1.86-lakh-crore.

For the April-to-September 2025 period, gross collections reached Rs 12.1-lakh-crore, an increase of 9.8 per cent from the Rs 11-lakh-crore a year-ago. This accounted for nearly 55 per cent of full year collections in FY 24.

Net GST revenue during six months stood at Rs 10.4-lakh-crore, marking an 8.8 per cent increase from the corresponding period last year.

Integrated GST collections breached the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark for the second time, reaching Rs 1,01,075-crore, registered in January 2025.

Cess collections, however, declined to Rs 11,652-crore, the lowest since April 2025. A point to note here is that for the April-to-September period, there is a gradual slide in cess from Rs 13,451-crore in April to Rs 11,652-crore in September.

The Finance Ministry said that the festive season GST revenues in August and September combined totalled Rs 3.8-lakh-crore, a northward movement of 7.8 per cent from the same period a year-ago.

TVS Motor Leads in September Electric Two-Wheeler Sales

The south India-based two-wheeler major TVS Motor has emerged as the top seller of electric two-wheelers in the Indian market in September.

The company clocked 96,031 registrations in September and emerging in the number one position.

TVS Motor sold 21,052 units during the month securing the highest market share at 21.9 per cent, up from the 20.4 per cent in the year-ago period, data showed.

Bajaj Auto and Ather Energy came in the second and third positions.

The former clocked 17,972 units at an 18.7 per cent market share, which, however is slightly lower than the 20.9 per cent touched last year.

Ather Energy entered the top three club for the first time, clocking 16,558 units and a 17.2 per cent market share, up from the 14.6 per cent a year-ago.

Ola Electric is now in the fourth position, registering 12,223 units with a 12.7 per cent market share. This is a reduction from the 27.3 per cent the company had in the year-ago month,

Hero MotoCorp’s Vida also gained momentum, registering 11,856 units and a 12.3 per cent share as compared to last year’s 4.7 per cent.

Other notable players include Ampere with 3,912 units and a 4.1 per cent share, BGauss with 2,078 units and a share of 2.2 per cent, Pure EV with 1,674 units and a 1.7 per cent share and River with 1,519 units and a 1.6 per cent share.