Foreign investments in India almost tripled in FY' 08 than the capital it received during the same period in last fiscal, the National Council of Applied Economic Research said.

"In the first nine months of 2007-08, the net capital flows rose to $83 billion from $30 billion the country received during the corresponding period of the previous year," the report said.

The country maintained the trend of attracting funds that also boosted its forex reserves, it added.

"Access to global capital has helped India's macro-economy to see a rapid and steady rise in its forex reserves, post-1991 period," the NCAER report said.

These capital inflows have become a significant force behind total investment spending, the report said.

The flow of funds, in terms of foreign direct investment or external commercial borrowing, has also complemented portfolio funds, the report said, adding that between FY' 04 and FY' 08, the reserves rose by more than $150 billion.

Foreign funds during the period rose enough to finance the current account deficit, it said.

Besides India, a similar trend has been noticed in all emerging economies, the report said.

"The overall capital flow to these economies has gone up from $168 billion in 2003 to $605 billion in 2007," the report said. However, the IMF's World Economic Outlook projects that there would be a steep decline in the flow from $605 billion in 2007 to $330.7 billion in 2008.

The decline in the flow of global capital may be due to financial sector turmoil caused by a slowdown in the developed world or declining performance in the economies of the developing world, it said.