There are several good reasons for investing in India:
– One of the largest economies in the world with a stable democratic environment throughout 60 years of independence
– Large market size with middle class population of 250-350 million, along with increasing purchasing power reflected by remarkable increase in purchase of consumer durables in recent years
– Access to regional international markets through membership of regional integration frameworks such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
– Foreign investment is welcome in almost all sectors barring those of strategic concern like defence and atomic energy
– Foreign investment policy is amongst the most liberal and attractive in emerging economies. Constant policy based initiatives by the Government in specific sectors such as telecom, ports, airports, etc
– Indian economy is well suited to small and medium companies which are now finding it difficult to operate in the saturated western markets
– India has emerged as an across the board, low cost base, attractive enough to multi nationals to relocate to. More than 100 Fortune-500 companies now have a presence in India
– Large and diversified infrastructure spread across the country
– Emphasis on technology, innovation and knowledge base
– Large manufacturing capability, spanning almost all areas of manufacturing activities
– Developed banking system, commercial banking network of over 71,000 branches, supported by a number of national and state level financial institutions
– Vibrant capital market comprising 23 stock exchanges with more than 10,000 listed companies
– Introduction of futures trading in selective commodities on 3 national level exchanges and 21 regional level exchanges
– Increased investments by Private Equity (PE) Funds in the last two years. PE investments in 2007 touched a high of US$ 19.5 billion as compared to US$ 7.6 billion in 2006. The top four sectors of Infrastructure, Telecom, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) and Real Estate (in that order) received nearly 72.3% of all PE investments during 2007
– Legal protection for intellectual property rights
– Import regime conforming to World Trade Organisation commitments removal of remaining quantitative restrictions on imports of goods into India barring certain items on grounds of national security, defence and health
– Increased role of private and foreign investment in the Indian economy
– Rates of direct and indirect tax are amongst the most competitive
– Special investment and tax incentive for export in certain sectors such as power, electronics, software, business process outsourcing and food processing
– Rupee is fully convertible on current account and is being progressively liberalised on capital account
– Availability of skilled manpower and professional managers
– English is the preferred business language
– Well developed insurance and financial services sector with established regulatory authority
– Well developed accountancy, legal, actuarial and consultancy professions
– Well established legal system with an independent judiciary
