India’s booming economy drew a record $2.9 billion in foreign direct investment in the first four months of the fiscal year, nearly double last year’s amount, according to the Press Trust of India.

“FDI inflows in April-July 2006-07 increased by 92 percent to $2.9 billion from $1.5 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year,” said Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. “India is set to receive $12 billion this year as against $8.3 billion in 2005-06.”

For July, FDI inflows increased by a record 259 percent to $1.16 billion compared with $324 million in the same month a year earlier, Nath said.

Foreign investors have been lured by India’s strong economic growth. The economy expanded by 8.9 percent in the first quarter to June after growing by 8.4 percent in the financial year ending March 31, 2006.

Nath said India had received $50.1 billion in FDI since 1991 when the country began liberalizing the economy. Of this, $16 billion has come since April 2004.

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