The Hindu Business Line : FDI inflow hits $15.7 b in 2006-07

New Delhi, Jan. 7 Fuelled by policy changes and simplification of procedures, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow has registered a five-fold rise to touch $15.7 billion in 2006-07 compared with $2.2 billion in 2003-04. Accordingly, a target of $30 billion has been set for 2007-08, an official release said today.

“FDI has increased from just 0.77 per cent of GDP in 2003-04 to 2.31 per cent in 2006-07. Similarly, as a percentage of total investment, this has gone up from 2.55 per cent in 2003-04 to 6.42 per cent in 2006-07,” according to the year-end review of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Due to progressive delicensing, only a handful of sectors remain within the ambit of compulsory licensing on account of safety, security and environmental concerns, it said. These sectors are distillation and brewing of alcoholic drinks, cigars and cigarettes and manufactured tobacco substitutes, electronics aerospace and defence equipment and industrial explosives.

India has also improved its positioning in the World Bank’s ranking of ‘Doing Business 2008’ to 120 rank, from 138 position, in 2006. “As impact of the modernisation programme is evident, the number of patent applications increased from less than 13,000 in 2003-04 to about 29,000 in 2006-07. The grant of patents increased four-fold to 1,911 in the financial year 2005 to 7,539 in the financial year 2007,” it said.

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