India’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments rose about 20 per cent to $5.81 billion in March 2025, up from $ 4.84 billion the same month last year. Sequentially, they rose marginally from $5.57 billion in February, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Outbound FDI, expressed as a financial commitment, has three components: equity, loans, and guarantees. Equity commitments fell to $ 2.49 billion in March, compared to $2.55 billion a year ago and $3.11 billion in February.
Loan commitments increased more than three-fold to $2.10 billion in March, up from $ 617 million a year ago. They were higher than the $1.14 billion committed in February. Guarantees for overseas units fell to $1.21 billion in March, from $1.67 billion a year ago and down from $1.31 billion in February, RBI data showed.
Outward FDI in the quarter ended March 2025 stood at $10.32 billion with an equity component of $6.78 billion and debt of $3.53 billion. The three top outward FDI destinations for Indian FDI in January-March 2025 were Singapore ($2.09 billion), Mauritius ($1.44 billion) and the United States of America ($1.17 billion).
According to RBI data the actual outward FDI in April 2024-January 2025 stood at $ 20.19 billion, up from $ 11.78 billion in April 2023-January 2024.
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This World Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a year-long campaign to urge governments and health workers to accelerate efforts towards improving maternal and newborn healthcare. While hospital delivery rates are on the rise, maternal and newborn mortality remain a persistent challenge. To ensure quality healthcare for women and babies, a critical yet often overlooked infrastructure priority is ensuring reliable electricity, which plays a vital role in enhancing healthcare service delivery – from powering essential medical equipment to enabling safe childbirth.
Globally, a billion people access health facilities that function without electricity or with an unreliable electricity supply. In India alone, the Health Dynamics of India (Infrastructure and Human Resources) 2022-23 report highlights that over 18,000 public health facilities function without an electricity connection. This does not account for those facilities functioning with unreliable electricity.
Electricity is essential for powering all medical services – from lighting and sterilisation to maintaining medical cold chains for immunisation. A host of lifesaving equipment requires electricity, including foetal heart monitors and ultrasounds, radiant (baby) warmers, oxygen concentrators, suction apparatus, and phototherapy – all critical to maternal and newborn care.
Electrifying health facilities has significantly improved the delivery of medical services, enabling the treatment of more patients while enhancing existing services and introducing new services previously hindered by unreliable power supply – particularly in maternity care, laboratory facilities, and immunisation services. According to WHO’s global study and WRI India’s research, electrifying rural health facilities through clean energy in India provides several direct benefits to patient well-being and healthcare staff. For patients, this reduces out-of-pocket expenditure, as they no longer need to travel in search of health facilities. Improving infrastructure in health facilities through reliable electricity access also enables health workers to provide higher-quality obstetric and newborn care, especially in resource-constrained settings. Additionally, reliable electricity in health facilities and staff quarters leads to better retention of medical staff and motivates healthcare professionals to accept postings in rural areas.
With 2025 projected to become the warmest year on record, the rising intensity and duration of heatwaves pose a growing public health concern — especially for vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, children, and infants. Moreover, extreme weather events in India continue to strain health systems, limiting health professionals’ ability to protect people from climate hazards like floods and thunderstorms, mainly because facilities are rendered non-functional. As the first point of contact for populations affected by climate change, health facilities must be designed and constructed to withstand climate-related risks.
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Buildings should provide adequate ventilation, and withstand extreme temperatures and other climate-related events. Equally important is ensuring a continuous supply of safe water, robust waste management, and access to medical equipment that can operate under unreliable power supply scenarios. Health facilities could incorporate solar panels, battery storage, and even backup generators to safeguard against power outages that could compromise patient care.
Various programmes are underway to electrify healthcare facilities while simultaneously improving healthcare service delivery. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has been spearheading the shift in rural health facilities by installing solar power and battery storage in areas with unreliable access. The Indian Public Health Standards 2022 encourage health facilities to adopt solar energy, energy-efficient lights and equipment, along with rainwater harvesting and green open spaces. The MoHFW’s National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health is specially designed to help strengthen health systems’ resilience and response to climate change. Under the programme, funds are allocated through the National Health Mission’s Programme Implementation Plans (PIP), where states can list their healthcare budgetary requirements, which are then forwarded to the Centre for allocation. This allows states to budget for energy audits, installation and maintenance of solar and battery storage solutions, energy-efficient lights, and water conservation measures.
Healthcare, the second-largest recipient of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds in the past decade, is gradually seeing companies invest in clean energy solutions for health facilities. These investments are not only a response to growing interest in sustainable solutions but also a commitment to improving healthcare service delivery. To complement public finance and CSR, development finance has also stepped in to support solar energy and energy efficiency. CSR funds are also being allocated to support 25,000 public health facilities by 2026 in India. With healthcare being a priority sector, convergence of finance from different sub-national government programmes – such as Local Area Development Schemes or District Mineral Foundation funds – along with ambitious national initiatives like the PM Surya Ghar Yojana for rooftop solar or the PM E-Drive scheme for e-ambulances, could unlock further financing towards health facility electrification.
Access to quality and reliable healthcare is a fundamental human right. As climate change threatens both human health and health systems, the role of reliable electricity in rural health infrastructure to respond to this challenge cannot be overstated. Recognising the potential impact of unreliable electricity on healthcare delivery is essential for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and all stakeholders committed to building a healthier, resilient, and sustainable future for India.
Bharath Jairaj is the executive director and Lanvin Concessao is a programme manager with the Energy Programme at WRI India
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
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