About India

Asian Development Bank predicts India's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 6 per cent for 2013-14. Moreover, World Bank sees 6.7 per cent GDP growth for India by 2015.

• Services: 65 per cent
• Industry: 18 per cent
• Agriculture: 17 per cent
• Forex Reserves: US$ 281.29 billion for the week ended Nov 08, 2013
• Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF): Gross Fixed Capital Formation in India increased to 5170.39 INR Billion in the first quarter of 2013 from 4816.38 INR Billion in the fourth quarter of 2012. Gross Fixed Capital Formation in India is reported by the Central Statistical Organisation, India. India Gross Fixed Capital Formation averaged 3454.07 INR Billion from 2001 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 5170.39 INR Billion in February of 2013 and a record low of 2021.90 INR Billion in February of 2002.
• Value of Exports: Exports during October, 2013 were valued at US $ 27270.97 million (Rs.168031.71 crore) which was 13.47 per cent higher in Dollar terms (31.86 per cent higher in Rupee terms) than the level of US $ 24032.90 million (Rs. 127431.81 crore) during October, 2012. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-October 2013 -14 was US $ 179376.37 million (Rs 1069226.68 crore) as against US $ 168706.81 million (Rs 918270.21 crore) registering a growth of 6.32 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 16.44 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
• Export Partners: US, Germany, UAE, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and European Union. India is also tapping newer markets in Africa and Latin America
• Currency (code): Indian rupee (INR)
• Exchange Rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 1 USD = 62.73 NR (Nov 09, 2013)
• Fiscal Year: 1 April - 31 March
• Cumulative FDI equity Inflows: 12.98 billion (April, 2013 to August, 2013)
• Share of Top Investing Countries FDI Equity Inflows: Mauritius, Singapore, UK, Japan, USA, Netherlands and Cyprus (as on March 2013)
• Major Sectors Attracting Highest FDI Equity Inflows: Services Sector, Construction Activities, Telecommunications, , Computer Software & Hardware, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals (as on March 2013)

• Airports: The Airports Authorityof India (AAI) manages a total of 125 Airports
• International Airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Port Blair, Srinagar, Jaipur, Nagpur, Calicut, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore
• Railways: The Indian Railways network is spread over some 64,000 km, with 12,000 passenger and 7,000 freight trains each day from 7,083 stations plying 23 million travellers and 2.65 million tonnes of goods daily
• Roadways:India's road network of 4.1 million km is the second largest in the world. With the number of vehicles growing at an average annual pace of 10.16 per cent, Indian roads carry about 65 per cent of freight and 80 per cent of passenger traffic
• Waterways: 14, 500 km

The Indian growth story seems to be on a roll and India has emerged as the fourth largest economy in the world on a purchasing power parity basis. The quality of business environment in India has improved manifolds in the recent years. The strong fundamentals underlying the Indian economy make it an obvious choice for investors all over the world.

There is ample reason for India's viability as a destination for foreign investment. In addition to the above-mentioned macroeconomic indicators, higher disposable incomes, emerging middle class, low cost competitive workforce, investment friendly policies and progressive reform process all contribute towards India being an appropriate choice for investors.

The government of India has put in place a liberal and transparent FDI policy. In the post liberalization era, a number of initiatives have been taken to attract FDI in several sectors. This includes opening of many new sectors to FDI, raising FDI equity caps in sectors already opened and procedural simplification. Today, the FDI policy in India is widely reckoned to be among the most liberal in the emerging economies and FDI up to 100% is allowed under the automatic route in most sectors and activities.

The Indian Government is committed in its efforts to maintain a healthy growth rate and provide a conducive policy environment to the enterprises, both public and private, to invest and grow their business in the country. To this end, the Government has liberalized the foreign investment regime substantially over the last decade. Today, foreign direct investment is allowed in almost all sectors barring a few sensitive areas such as defence. Further, FDI is allowed in most of the sectors under the automatic route, except a few, where approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is required. India's foreign trade policy has been formulated with a view to invite and encourage FDI in India. The process of regulation and approval has been substantially liberalized. The Reserve Bank of India has prescribed the administrative and compliance aspects of FDI.

FDI can be divided into two broad categories: investment under automatic route and investment through prior approval of Government. The pickup in FDI inflows further reflects growing investor interest in the Indian economy on the back of strong fundamentals and simplified procedures. The FDI policy rationalization and liberalization measures taken by the Government have resulted in increased inflows of FDI over the years.

• World's largest democracy with 1.2 billion people.
• Stable political environment and responsive administrative set up.
• Well established judiciary to enforce rule of law.
• Land of abundant natural resources and diverse climatic conditions.
• India's growth will start to outpace China's within three to five years and hence will become the fastest large economy with 9-10 per cent growth over the next 20-25 years (Morgan Stanley).
• Investor friendly policies and incentive based schemes.
• India's economy will grow fivefold in the next 20 years (McKinsey).
• Cost competitiveness; low labour costs.
• Total labour force of nearly 530 million.
• Large pool of skilled manpower; strong knowledge base with significant English speaking population.
• Young country with a median age of 30 years by 2025: India's economy will benefit from this "demographic dividend".
• The proportion of population in the working age group (15-59 years) is likely to increase from approximately 58 per cent in 2001 to more than 64 per cent by 2021.
• Huge untapped market potential.
• The urban population of India will double from the 2001 census figure of 290 m to approximately 590 m by 2030 (McKinsey).
• Progressive simplification and rationalization of direct and indirect tax structures.
• Reduction in import tariffs.
• Full current account convertibility.
• India is member of WTO.
• Robust banking and financial institutions.

• India has a market potential of €2 billion (US$ 2.66 billion) for setting up high-voltage transmission lines by 2018, as per Alstom. The high-voltage direct current (HVDC) market is estimated at €50 billion (US$ 66.47 billion) in the next 10 years, and Alstom is targetting a 20 per cent market share
• Private equity (PE) firms are keen to invest Rs 122.80 billion (U$ 2 billion) in the real estate market in India, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield. PE investments in real estate was recorded at Rs 16.38 billion (US$ 266.81 million) in H1 2013 The growing stability of the market is reflected by the continuous growth of the core investors, with over Rs 77.05 billion (US$ 1.25 billion) invested in ready office space during the last three years
• The greenfield investments by automobile manufacturers in India may entail total investments worth Rs 70 billion (US$ 1.47 billion) to be incurred by auto component manufacturers over the next three years, according to a study by ICRA
• The logistics sector of India is valued at Rs 6.73 trillion (US$ 110 billion) and is expected to touch Rs 12.24 trillion (US$ 200 billion) by 2020. The sector is will double its growth in seven years from the present growth rate of 15 per cent, said Mr K V Mahidhar, Head, CII Institute of Logistics
• The Government of India encouraged the agrochemicals industry to invest in research and development (R&D) and innovations. Agrochemicals are recognised as an essential input for increasing agricultural production and preventing crop loss before and after harvesting
• The Government of India's decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) through automatic route in power exchanges, while retaining the cap at 49 per cent, will open up opportunities for overseas players to participate in the growth and development of the sector, especially the power exchanges
• India witnessed 73.5 million mobile handset shipments for the January-April 2013 period. Also, smartphones to a tune of 9.4 million were shipped into India, registering a growth of 167.3 per cent on an annual basis
• The risk and procurement analytics sector in India is expected to grow from the present Rs 61.24 trillion (US$ 1 billion) to Rs 183.72 trillion (US$ 3 billion) in 6-7 years, according to a report by National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). In addition, Nasscom expects the IT services sector in India to grow by 13-14 per cent in 2013-14 and to touch Rs 13.79 trillion (US$ 225 billion) by 2020
• The enterprise software market in India is expected to reach Rs 240.66 billion (US$ 3.92 billion) in 2013, registering a growth of 13.9 per cent over 2012 revenue of US$ 3.45 billion, according to Gartner
• The prime office space segment across key cities—Mumbai, the National Capital Region (NCR), Pune and Bengaluru—in India witnessed a fresh supply infusion of more than 20 million square feet (sqft) in the first six months of 2013, witnessing a growth of 16 per cent on y-o-y basis, as per a report titled the India Office Market View Q2 2013 by CBRE
• As the healthcare coverage across the country increases, the industry is expected to register a CAGR of 12 per cent to reach Rs 4,200 billion (US$ 68.46 billion) in 2015-16, as per data released by VCCEdge