India Inc's overseas equity bets jump 27% in March over February

Overseas direct investment in equity instruments surged around 27% month-on-month in March to $1.458 billion, the Reserve Bank said on Monday.

The number had stood at $1.146 billion in February, before the onset of the Middle East conflict, and $2.563 billion in March 2026, the RBI said.

In March 2026, the top five companies accounted for nearly half of the overseas direct investments in equities, and were led by Tata Steel at $444 million.

According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data, Tata Steel was followed by Eclat Health Solutions India at $98.7956 million, Aspire Systems India at $88.2863 million, Navashakti Renewables at $77.4046 million, and Quality Care India at $52.5678 million.

From a country perspective, Singapore led, accounting for $414 million of overseas direct investment in equities in the three months to March, while the Netherlands followed at number two by bagging $285 million worth of equity investments from Indian companies.

Interestingly, the United Arab Emirates received $129.58 million in investments in Q4, as per the RBI data.

Further, total financial commitments, including debt and guarantees issued, surged sharply in March to $7.06 billion from $2.965 billion in February 2026 and $5.539 billion in March last year.

This surge in March was on the back of higher commitments in the guarantees issued of $4.91 billion.

Financial commitments through guarantees issued remained highest by Tata Motors at $2.62 billion in March, which was followed by $660 million by Renew, and $558.25 million by Jindal Power.

In the loan segment, the United Arab Emirates received the highest loan commitment from India worth $223.94 million, and Mauritius $146.27 million, the data showed.

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