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India, lying in the Northern Hemisphere, is the seventh largest country in the world covering an area of 32,87,263 sq km. It lies between 8 degree 4' North to 37 degree 6' North latitudes, and 68 degree 7' East to 97 degree 25' East longitudes. It measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It is bounded by the Great Himalayas on the north; by the Bay of Bengal on the east; by the Arabian Sea on the west; and by the Indian Ocean on the south. The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the Great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the Southern peninsula. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km. Besides, India shares a common border with the neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan on the north-west; China, Nepal and Bhutan on the north; Myanmar on the east and Bangladesh on the east of West of Bengal. Sri Lanka is also separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
India's unique and vast geography, endowed with diverse topography, has made it one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world. It is the world's largest democracy with stable policy environment, law and order as well as responsive administrative set up. It has become a global resource for various manufacturing and services industry. It is a land of abundant natural resources like coal, iron ore, manganese ore, mica, bauxite, petroleum, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, limestone, dolomite, kaolin, gypsum, apatite, phosphorite, steatite, fluorite, etc. Its large area is covered by lush green forests producing wide variety of products of high quality like timber. It is a home to rich and varied vegetations endowed with different climatic conditions. It is rich in flora and fauna.
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India is much less affected (by the global slowdown) than other global markets and represents a huge opportunity to not only grow sales, but even develop products...
Gottfried Dutine
Executive Vice-President
Philips, The Netherlands |
The diverse economy of India encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries and a multitude of services. With the largest area of arable land, India is one of the world’s biggest food producers. It is the largest producer of milk, sugarcane and tea as well as the second largest producer of rice, fruit and vegetables. India's pool of technical manpower base with an increasing disposable income and its burgeoning market have all combined to enable India emerge as a viable partner to global industry. It is the preferred hotspot for organizations keen to outsource their R & D activities, software development work, customer contact centers or IT enabled business processes. The top sectors attracting highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the country are:- electrical equipments, services sector (financial and non financial), telecommunications, transportation industry, fuels, chemicals, construction activities, drugs and pharmaceuticals, food processing, cement and gypsum products. Huge investment potential exists in the upcoming Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sector and the real estate industry.
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...India is a major player in world economy and we intend to grow with it and for it
Christian Scherer
Executive Vice-President, Airbus |
The Government of India is making all efforts to supplement all such advantages of the country. It has made infrastructure development as one of the key area of focus. Sound and effective connectivity via rail, road, ports and air, between the Indian States and with the rest of the world, is a necessity. Along with this, efficient power supply and excellent telecommunication network plays a very important role in the country's development. Accordingly, the Government has undertaken several policy measures and incentives to attract investors into the country and provide a good quality of life to the people.
Thus, India is one of the few markets in the world which offers high prospects for growth and earning potential in practically all areas of business, particularly in tourism, information technology (IT) and agricultural sector. There exists immense investment opportunities both at the national level and the State level.
State Level Investment
India is a country with a rich and varied cultural heritage and is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is divided into twenty eight States and seven Union Territories based on the diversity in culture and geography of the regions. Each State/UT of India has a unique demography, history, art and craft, dress, festivals, language etc. which provides numerous opportunities for the investors the world over. They are endowed with large number of places of tourists interest like beautiful landscapes, wildlife and forests, hills, plateaus, valleys, monuments, forts, palaces, temples, etc. Each State have distinct inherent strengths, ranging from abundant supply of mineral resources and large forest reserves to the availability of good fertile lands, which are suitable for growing variety of agricultural and horticultural crops.
Several world-renowned companies/ industries exists in these States which encourage large investments into the country. They are largely confined to iron and steel, cement, textiles, agro-processing, mineral-based industries, drugs and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, electronics, automobiles, etc. Various State Governments have also recognised Information Technology (IT) industry as an integral part of the economy, thereby attracting new players into the market. IT revolution is committed to provide good governance that ensures transparency, reduction in transaction costs, efficiency and citizen centric delivery of public services. Therefore, the Government is making all efforts to facilitate the growth of such industries and promote overall development of the economy.
Most importantly, the State Government has undertaken several policy measures and incentives so as to provide ample business opportunities. These policies seeks to create much-needed investment friendly environment in the States, highlight the major foreign direct investment (FDI) sectors and thus reflect the true position of the State economy. For instance, the Industrial Policy has been formulated with a view to accelerate industrialization process of the State. While, Information Technology (IT) policy has been framed to bring private investments into the IT sector and develop a roadmap for e-governance. Such developmental policies also aims to adopt strategies for enabling the residents of States to take full advantage of the employment opportunities.
However, for improvement of the quality of life of the people of the State as well as promote rapid industrialization and balanced development, infrastructure facilities are highly required. The quality of infrastructure is widely regarded as an essential determinant of growth in the States. Agricultural growth depends upon rural infrastructure such as the spread and quality of irrigation, land development, extent of rural electrification and the spread of rural roads. While, non-agricultural growth highly depends upon sectors such as electric power, road and rail transportation, ports and airports as well as telecommunications. All these services increases the productivity of existing resources going into the production and helps to attract more investments. Moreover, it is responsibility of the State Governments to provide such critical infrastructure facilities required for the industrial and commercial development of the State, for instance, making available the power at an appropriate price and of acceptable quality.
Hence, the economic growth and development of the country is highly dependent on the administrative set up, agricultural and industrial base; human resources as well as infrastructural network of all the States/ UTs. Accordingly, several opportunities and incentives are offered to them, from time to time, so as to motivate investors to invest therein. Some of the major States/UTs of India, which attract large investments are given below.
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