India Among Top Three of Preferred Investment Destination List

India will emerge as one of the top three choices for overseas investments in the next 2-3 years, a CII-EY FDI survey report showed.

According to the survey, India is the first choice for future investments for more than two-thirds of the MNC respondents.

The survey also showed that 25 per cent of the respondents, who represent non-Indian HQ MNCs, view India as the first choice for future investments.

"The survey shows that more than 80 per cent of all the respondents and 71 per cent of the non-Indian headquartered respondents plan to make investments globally in the next 2-3 years," the report said.

"About 30 per cent of companies are planning to invest more than $500 million. About 50 per cent of the respondents see India among the top three economies or leading manufacturing destinations of the world by 2025," it added.

The respondents have picked market potential, skilled workforce and political stability as the top three reasons to make India their favoured destination.

Other key factors which contribute to the attractiveness of India as an investment destination include cheap labour availability, policy reforms, and availability of raw materials, the report said.

"Recent reforms in the country such as corporate tax cuts, ease of doing business measures, simplification of labour laws, FDI reforms, and focus on human capital have emerged as the top drivers for fresh investments," the report said.

"Non-Indian HQ MNCs have also opined that major investment in infrastructure and 100 Smart cities as well as financial sector reforms will also help establishing India as a favourable destination for FDI," it said.

In addition, the survey brought out some key recommendations sought by the respondents.

As per the report: "Infrastructure development, faster clearances, and proper implementation of the improved labour laws and labour availability as the top three issues that the companies want the government to focus on, followed by R&D and innovation, and tax reforms.

"In terms of trade policy reforms, investors would like to see a faster turnaround time for exports and imports, improved cargo handling, and trade facilitation measures to be in place."