Photographs: Eric Feferberg/Pool/Reuters
According to an Ernst & Young survey, while India has been one of the leading destinations for shared services, it is rapidly emerging as a manufacturing location for many foreign corporations.
By 2020, 25 per cent of survey respondents see India among the world's leading three destinations for manufacturing.
So, what do investors seek in India? Ernst & Young has found 10 factors that foreign investors find most attractive while deciding to invest in India.
Let's have a look at these aspects.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: People walk after heavy snowfall in Srinagar.Photographs: Danish Ishmail/Reuters
1. High potential of domestic market
Factor that investors find attractive: 50 per cent
The recent FDI data mirrors the emergence of manufacturing for FDI. In 2011, 78 per cent of investment in terms of value went to the manufacturing sector in comparison to 14 per cent for shared services.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: Farmers ferry cucumbers to sell them in a market in Allahabad.Photographs: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters
2. Cost competitiveness
Factor that investors find attractive: 45 per cent
This is despite the fact that in terms of number of projects, 54 per cent of FDI projects were related to services and 34 per cent were manufacturing-led.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: White tigers swim in a pond on a hot day at the zoological park in Hyderabad.Photographs: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters
3. Access to highly qualified workforce
Factor that investors find attractive: 25 per cent
Underscoring the potential in the domestic market, 35 per cent of the companies surveyed nominated India as an attractive destination for domestic manufacturing and 21 per cent as an attractive base for manufacturing for the global market.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: A woman looks at the products at a Gucci showroom in Mumbai.Photographs: Arko Datta/Reuters
4. Demand-driven growth model
Factor that investors find attractive: 23 per cent
When investing in manufacturing projects in India, investors tend to target the industrial machinery, equipment and tools (115 projects) and the automotive (76 projects) sectors.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: Tourists paraglide after fresh snowfall in Solang Nallah.Photographs: Anil Dayal/Reuters
5. High productivity
Factor that investors find attractive: 15 per cent
About 65 per cent of the respondents believe that an improvement in quality of logistics and transportation will accelerate India's attractiveness as a destination for manufacturing.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: A conductor stands beside a tram in Kolkata.Photographs: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters
6. Leading location for manufacturing facilities
Factor that investors find attractive: 13 per cent
Investors show strong confidence in India to maintain this performance in the long term. Only 11 per cent of the survey respondents see India being surpassed by more dynamic countries.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: A kite-flying enthusiast tightens the strings of a kite during a practice session in Ahmedabad.Photographs: Amit Dave/Reuters
7. Support for innovation
Factor that investors find attractive: 12 per cent
Twenty-nine per cent believe that India will continue to experience rapid growth in the coming years.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: Camels are silhouetted against the setting sun over the Thar Desert on the outskirts of Jaisalmer.Photographs: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters
8. Political stability
Factor that investors find attractive: 8 per cent
Investors are also more demanding. They want to secure their investments in easily accessible (63 per cent) and predictable business climates with FDI-friendly regulatory environments (62 per cent).
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: A French tourist walks past Buddhist religious flags at Namgyal Tsemo Gompa monastery in Leh.Photographs: Fayaz Kabli/Reuters
9. Ease of doing business
Factor that investors find attractive: 2 per cent
Indian business conditions raise concerns among global leaders. The survey respondents believe that improving infrastructure network (76 per cent) and better governance and transparency system (60 per cent) will have a high impact on India's attractiveness.
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10 factors that attract foreign investors to India
Image: A man walks in front of Buddha statues outside the Ambedkar memorial park in Lucknow.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
10. Importance of CSR initiatives
Factor that investors find attractive: 1 per cent
In the long term, investors highlight innovation as a challenge for India. Forty-three per cent of investors think that it needs to improve the quality of its labs and research institutions.
More specifically, 38 per cent of investors cite distance between research institutions and corporations as a roadblock to developing new products in the country.
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