NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment ( FDI) into the country has increased to USD 284 billion during 2014-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday while presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21.

" India's FDI got elevated to the level of USD 284 billion during 2014-19 from USD 190 billion that came in during the years 2009-14," she said.

The foreign inflows into India grew 15 per cent to USD 26 billion during the first half of the current financial year.

Sectors which attract maximum foreign inflows include services, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, automobile and trading.

Singapore continued to be the largest source of FDI in India during the first half of the financial year with USD 8 billion investments. It was followed by Mauritius, the US, the Netherlands, and Japan.

FDI is important as the country requires major investments to overhaul its infrastructure sector to boost growth.

The government last year relaxed foreign investment norms in sectors such as brand retail trading, coal mining and contract manufacturing.