India has been touted as one of the major beneficiaries of the growing international corporate diversification away from reliance on China.
A belief now backed up by a survey from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in association with EY, which found multi-national corporations view the country as one of the next global investment hotspots.
“The recent major structural reforms, proactive government processes and the quick pickup in economic activity following unlock measures are contributing to global investor interest,” according to Chandrajut Banerjee, director general of the CII.
Favoured destination
According to the survey, for more than two-thirds of the multi-national corporation respondents, India is the number one choice for future investments.
The survey shows that more than 80% of all the respondents and 71% of the non-Indian headquartered respondents plan to make investments globally in the next two to three years.
About 30% of companies are planning to invest more than $500m (£384.6m, €424.7m).
Nearly half of respondents see India among the top three economies or leading manufacturing destinations of the world by 2025.
The respondents have pinned down market potential, skilled workforce, and political stability as the top three reasons to make India their favoured destination.
Wish list
But that’s not to say that the companies don’t want to see further improvements.
Some of the key recommendations include infrastructure development, faster clearances, and proper implementation of the improved labour laws and labour availability are the top issues companies want the government to focus us.
These were 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 value-added, improved cargo handling, and trade facilitation measures to be in place.
