India on world radar for investments: Kamal Nath
Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 18:30 IST
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Bangalore: India's robust economic growth has put the country on the world radar for attracting investments from global investors, said Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath. "India is on the world radar as never before, thanks to the current robust economic growth. No investor wants surprises, but (they want) improvements. And that is what we promise to deliver," the minister told about 750 business delegates from 26 countries participating in the three-day CII partnership summit here. "The time for surprises is over. Now, we shall we give you constant improvement and betterment." Asserting there could not have been a better time to engage with India, he said the reforms process was being widened and deepened to provide opportunities to businesses from the world over. "The foreign direct investment (FDI) regime is getting progressively liberalized. The regulatory mechanisms are being strengthened and overseas investments in key areas of infrastructure are being made most welcome," the minister pointed out. In this context, Kamal Nath said foreign inflows, including portfolio investment, were estimated to touch about $15 billion by the end of the current fiscal (2006-07), with more overseas firms eyeing good returns from the subcontinent. While foreign institutional investment (FII) is set to account for $12 billion, the FDI will be about $3 billion. The overall foreign investment, including FII and FDI, is expected to go up by 120 percent over the last fiscal. Between April-November, the equity inflow was $7.3 billion, a 117 percent growth over the same period in the last fiscal at $3.5 billion. "This is the fastest growth rate of foreign inflows into the country. It reflects the confidence foreign firms have in India, which is emerging as a major player," Kamal Nath said. With the economy on a growth trajectory, the gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by 9.1 percent in the first half of this fiscal. The manufacturing sector grew at 12.1 percent as against 9.5 percent in the same period of the last fiscal. "On the export front, the growth rate is three times that of the GDP at 25 percent over the last four years. In 2005-06, exports crossed the landmark figure of $103 billion. Merchandise exports along with service exports accounted for 20 per cent of the GDP," the minister said.
Source: IANS
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