• Gross Domestic Product :
• $ 1.16 trillion (2007-08. Advance Estimates)
• Average annual growth in GDP :

• Since 1990-91	: 6.25%
  In 2005-06	: 9.4%
  In 2006-07	: 9.6%

• Composition of GDP (2006-07) :

• Primary (agriculture etc.)	: 17.5%
  Secondary (industry etc.)	: 27.9%
  Tertiary (services)	: 54.6%
  Total Exports (2006-07)	: $ 128 billion
  Total Imports (2006-07)	: $ 191 billion
  Exports to Japan (2007)	: $ 4.46 billion
  Imports from Japan (2007)	: $ 6.58 billion

• Foreign Investment Inflows (2006-07) :
• • (i) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) :

  • Gross	: $23.0 billion
    FDI outward	: $14.4 billion
    FDI (net)	: $8.6 billion

  • (ii) Portfolio Investment (2006-07):

  • Credit	: $110 billion
    Debit	: $103 billion
    Portfolio net flow	: $7 billion

• Gross Domestic Savings & Investment Rate ( as % of GDP):

• 	Savings	Investment
  1980-81 to 1989-90	: 19.41	21.23
  1990-91 to 1999-00	: 23.13	24.55
  2000-01	: 23.50	23.80
  2001-02	: 23.50	22.60
  2002-03	: 26.10	24.80
  2003-04	: 28.10	26.30
  2004-05	: 31.80	32.20
  2005-06	: 34.30	35.50
  2006-07	: 34.80	35.90

• Foreign Exchange Reserves (Feb 8, 2008) :$ 291 billion
• Foreign Debt ( June 2007 ):$ 165.4 billion

www.rbi.org

• A stable, established, mature democracy.
• Favourable demographics : more than 550 million under 25 years old;

India as a nation growing younger ( population in working age group projected to increase) as the developed world faces the problem of aging.

• Well developed banking, with over 72,000 branches and banking practices conforming to international best standards. The net non performing assets ratio for all commercial banks was 1.5% at the end of 2006-07.
• A large, sophisticated, well regulated capital market : 23 stock exchanges of which the two largest, the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange rank no 3 and 5 by number of transactions. Market capitalization : US$1638 billion, 150% of GDP as on Dec 30, 2007.
• A huge reservoir of English speaking, skilled and relatively inexpensive manpower : over 2.6 million engineers (degree and diploma holders), 814,000 software professionals, growing every year.

For all these reasons and more, India today is a country on the move, destined to occupy its place in the comity of nations as a major economic power. The most remarkable feature of its impressive growth story, especially over the last decade and a half, is that it has happened in a solid, democratic environment, making the process sustainable.
Economic Reforms, broadly understood as a process of introducing market oriented policies, are well underway and will continue unabated because there is a pan nation consensus, cutting across all political parties, supporting the process. Both internal as well as external controls, across sectors, are being systematically eased to encourage competition, within a democratic framework.

India has one of the friendliest FDI policy regimes in the developing world. FDI proposals can be made essentially through two routes : the automatic route requiring intimation to the Reserve Bank of India or the approval route, requiring approval of the Government through a well established institutional mechanism of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Most FDI proposals fall within the scope of the automatic route. Those, which do not, need to be routed through the FIPB.

Details of policies and procedures on FDI are easily accessible at the website of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion: http://dipp.nic.in/

• INFRASTRUCTURE

India offers tremendous investment opportunities in physical infrastructure sectors such as power, roads and highways, airports and seaports, urban infrastructure, real estate development.

The opportunity is attractive, both because the returns on investments in an infrastructure deficient but institutionally advanced India are high, and policy welcomes investments in the public-private partnership format, with provision for bridging the gap between economic and financial returns, through innovative financing packages.

For more information on investment opportunities in infrastructure, please visit the following websites:

This knowledge intensive sector is full of promise for business opportunities. India has adopted Intellectual Property Rights Protection, in line with WTO - TRIPS in January 2005, and offers cost competitive conditions for R & D, clinical trials etc. In addition, it offers a huge domestic market too.

For more detailed information on these sectors, please visit the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals at :

• To know more, please visit the Department of Information Technology at :
• http://www.mit.gov.in
• www.dot.gov.in

The automotive sector - cars, multi-utility vehicles, two wheelers and commercial vehicles, has grown rapidly and promises to continue doing so, supported by an equally robust and dynamic auto- components sector. Several factors - an inexpensive and highly skilled work force, a growing domestic market, readily available high quality IT capabilities, a FDI friendly regulatory regime - point towards a bright future and present excellent investment opportunities.

For more details, please visit :

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers ( SIAM) : www.siamindia.com
Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India ( ACMA) : www.acmainfo.com

One of the largest and most significant sectors of the Indian Economy, the Textiles Industry, is today well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the dismantling of the international quota trade regime with effect from Jan. 1, 2005, offering a host of good investment opportunities across the entire value chain, in the fast expanding domestic market as well as for catering to the demands of an increasingly competitive and integrated international market. High availability of inexpensive, trained and skilled manpower and of raw materials (cotton, man-made fibres), an internationally competitive spinning sector, presence across the entire value chain (raw materials, fibre, yarn, fabric, apparels and garments) and supportive government policies are distinct advantages.

For more on Textiles, please see :

Ministry of Textiles : http://texmin.nic.in

This knowledge-intensive sector, comprising highly diverse and specialized sub-sectors such as bio-pharmaceuticals, bio-informatics, bio-agri, bio-services and bio-industrial, is undoubtedly one of the sunrise sectors of the economy, poised to grow rapidly from under $ 1 billion presently to $ 5 billion by 2010. India's vast pool of scientists and engineers make it a natural bio-technology player, a feature duly recognized by many international companies, all eager to tap the potential and promise of this sector.

For information on policies and regulations, please visit:

Department of Bio-Technology : http://dbtindia.nic.in

For more on market size, potential, opportunities, please see:

www.ciionline.org

These zones aim at providing an internationally competitive and hassle free business environment for promotion of exports. Each SEZ is treated as a foreign territory and units located in it are not subject to either customs tariffs or domestic duties. Sales to Domestic Tariff Areas is permitted, subject to payment of applicable customs duties and import policies in force. Inputs, whether imported or sourced domestically, are free of any taxes. So are exports made from a SEZ. The only requirement is that the SEZ and the units located within it are positive foreign exchange earners.

This offers foreign companies tremendous opportunities for taking full advantage of Indian strengths in doing business in India. This could be either as the developer of the SEZ or as a unit in a SEZ or both.

Presently, there are 19 functional SEZs and 195 approved SEZs.

For full details on SEZs, please visit :

Government of India proposes to establish, promote and facilitate the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) along the alignment of the DFC between Delhi and Mumbai. The objective of the DMIC, supported by worldclass infrastructure, would be to optimize on the present potential, enhance investment climate and promote the economic development of the region through creation of a long term enabling environment. An MOU relating to the DMIC has been signed between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) of India to explore the opportunities for mutual cooperation. The envisaged alignment of freight corridor passes through six states Uttar Pradesh, NCR of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra and is mostly aligned parallel to the existing railway tracks. Distribution of length of dedicated freight corridor indicates that Rajasthan (39%) and Gujarat (38%) together constitute 77% of total length of the alignment of freight corridor, followed by Haryana and Maharashtra (10% each) and Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region of Delhi (1.5% of total length each) between Delhi and Mumbai. It is envisaged that the alignment of the proposed corridor will have nine junction stations, for exchange of traffic between the existing railway system and the DFC, in addition to the end terminals at Tughlakabad and Dadri in NCR of Delhi and J.N.Port in Navi Mumbai.

The Government of India granted in principle approval to Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) in August 2007. The gDelhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd. (DMICDC)h has been incorporated on 7th January 2008. DMICDC has 49% equity participation from Government of India and remaining 51% from private infrastructure organizations: IL&FS - 41% and IDFC - 10%.