Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Indian Direct Investment Entities for 2025-26

The Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets is an annual survey of Indian entities connected with foreign investment. It records what these entities owe to, and own in, other countries. This matters because it shows the structure of India’s international financial relationships, not just annual transaction flows.

The census covers companies, limited liability partnerships, alternative investment funds and partnership firms with inward or outward direct investment. It records direct investment, portfolio investment and other investments. Other investments include trade credit, loans, currency and deposits, and other payables or receivables.

For 2025-26, 43,123 entities reported FDI and/or ODI. The census also captures activity sectors, sales, purchases, exports and imports. Comparing assets and liabilities over time helps show changing exposure to foreign investors, lenders, suppliers and customers. However, these changes can include valuation effects from price and exchange-rate movements.

India’s foreign-investment reporting base was broad: 43,123 entities reported FDI and/or ODI as at end-March 2026. Most were unlisted, showing that foreign investment activity extends far beyond stock-market companies. The census included companies, LLPs, AIFs and partnership firms.

Table 1 records 41,814 unlisted entities and 1,309 listed entities. The unlisted group included 6,651 foreign associate companies, 27,245 foreign subsidiary companies, 719 alternative investment funds, 1,993 LLPs and partnership firms, and 5,206 other companies. These categories together produce the unlisted total.

The unlisted share was therefore about 97 per cent of all reporting entities. Unlisted entities also held 97.9 per cent of FDI equity capital at face value, worth ₹10,85,061 crore. This concentration means headline foreign-investment patterns are strongly shaped by privately held and unlisted businesses.

Between end-March 2025 and end-March 2026, India’s inward FDI became less dominant relative to ODI. The Reserve Bank reports that the rupee-value ratio of inward FDI to overseas direct investment moderated from 5.5 times to 4.2 times. A lower ratio means ODI was larger relative to inward FDI than it had been a year earlier.

For example, if inward FDI had been measured against ODI at 5.5 times in March 2025, the comparison was 4.2 times in March 2026. This ratio captures the relationship between the two positions, rather than reporting their separate rupee values. The article does not give the absolute totals behind the ratio.

The change suggests a relative strengthening of India’s overseas investment position, a relative reduction in inward FDI, or both. The supplied release does not identify which component drove the movement. It also cautions that position changes can include price and exchange-rate valuation effects, not only new investment flows.

Foreign investment into India came mainly from the United States, Mauritius, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Their shares of outstanding FDI were 16.5 per cent, 14.5 per cent, 13.7 per cent and 10.8 per cent, respectively. These figures identify the leading source countries in the reported stock of FDI.

India’s overseas investment had a different geographic pattern. Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States were the top ODI destinations. Together, they accounted for more than 50 per cent of India’s outstanding overseas direct investment. Thus, the leading sources of capital entering India were not identical to the leading destinations for Indian investment abroad.

These patterns show that cross-border investment is concentrated across a limited group of countries. The FLA Census records outstanding positions at end-March 2026, so the figures describe accumulated investment exposure rather than only transactions made during that year. The release does not provide individual percentage shares for the three leading ODI destinations.

Other investment covers cross-border financial relationships outside direct and portfolio investment. In this census, it includes trade credit, loans, currency and deposits, and other payables or receivables with unrelated non-resident entities. The figures therefore show expanding connections with independent foreign counterparties.

At end-March 2026, other investment liabilities increased 11.9 per cent in rupee terms from a year earlier. These liabilities can reflect amounts Indian entities owe to unrelated foreign lenders, suppliers or other counterparties. Other investment assets rose 16.1 per cent, indicating more amounts owed to Indian entities by unrelated non-residents, including customers or borrowers.

The faster growth of assets than liabilities suggests that these reported overseas claims expanded more quickly than obligations, measured in rupees. It does not establish why they changed or whether every category grew equally. Because the figures are outstanding positions, valuation changes from prices and exchange rates can also affect them.

The FLA Census compares outstanding foreign assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of a financial year. A balance-of-payments measure, by contrast, records financial flows during the year. These are different concepts, so their movements need not match. The census describes the value of positions, while BoP statistics describe transactions.

Suppose an Indian entity holds a foreign asset in another currency. Even if it makes no new investment, a change in the exchange rate can raise or lower that asset’s rupee value. Similarly, a rise or fall in the market price of an investment can change its reported value without a matching transaction. The article specifically identifies price and exchange-rate movements as valuation changes.

Therefore, the change between opening and closing FLA positions can include both transactions and revaluation. This explains why it may differ from flows recorded in India’s balance of payments for the same year. The distinction is important when interpreting whether foreign exposure changed because of new finance or market movements.

Foreign direct investment generally involves a lasting ownership or management interest in a business across borders. ODI is the outward form, when an Indian entity invests directly in an overseas business. FDI is the inward form, when a foreign investor invests directly in an Indian entity. These investments connect companies through ownership and business control.

Portfolio investment usually involves buying shares or debt securities without establishing the same direct business relationship. Other investment is a broader financing category. In this census, it includes trade credit, loans, currency and deposits, and other payables and receivables with non-residents. For example, a foreign loan is other investment, while an ownership stake is direct investment.

Together, these forms allow capital, financing and trade-related credit to cross borders. The census measures their outstanding assets and liabilities for Indian entities. It reports both financial structure and exposure, while the balance of payments records the related flows during a period. The article does not provide separate portfolio-investment totals.