India has replaced China as top destination for foreign direct investment by attracting $63 billion worth FDI projects in 2015, says a report. "India was the highest ranked country by capital investment in 2015, with $63 billion-worth of FDI projects announced," according to fDi Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd. Also there was an 8 per cent increase in project numbers to 697.

Investments in sectors that are not under the automatic route require FIPB approval. Currently 98 per cent FDI into India comes through automatic route.

"India is emerging as a key destination for renewable energy projects, helped by a wider government policy of incentives, infrastructure and programmes designed to attract investment," it said.

India topped the rankings in 2015 with USD 11.8 billion of announced FDI in the sector. This includes Lightsource Renewable Energy's plans to invest USD 3 billion to design, install and manage more than 3 gigawatts of solar power within the country. Chinese companies Sany Group and Chint Group are also planning to invest a total of USD 5 billion in the India's renewable energy sector.

China suffered a 23 per cent decline in capital investment and a 16 per cent drop in FDI projects

Among the emerging economies, greenfield FDI inflow in India and China was followed by Indonesia (USD 38.5 billion), Mexico (USD 24.3 billion) and Brazil (USD 17.3 billion).

The report said in 2015, greenfield FDI continued to show signs of recovery, with capital investment increasing by nearly 9 per cent to USD 713 billion, alongside an increase in job creation by 1 per cent to 1.89 million. However, the number of FDI projects declined 7 per cent to 11,930.