A recent survey titled, ‘Ready, set, grow: EY’s 2015 India attractiveness survey’ reveals that India has emerged as the most attractive investment destination in the world for the next three years.
Also, the report predicts that India will be the third-largest economy in the world by purchasing-power parity after the US and China over the next three years.
The survey captured the views of more than 500 decision-makers from multinational organizations across sectors including industrials, automotive, consumer products, life sciences, infrastructure, technology, financial services and others.
32% of business leaders from global corporations who were polled for the survey said India is the most attractive investment destination in the world, followed by China, Southeast Asia and Brazil, finds the survey. More than three out of five respondents said they had plans to invest in India over the next year.
The report shows 89% of respondents believe that investment in infrastructure projects and the 100 Smart Cities project would be significant drivers of growth.
Also, the survey shows that India will be among the world’s top three leading destinations for manufacturing by 2020. The report predicts that India will generate 100 million new manufacturing jobs through the Make in India program by 2022.
Investors warm up to second-tier cities for investment
Investors are showing increased enthusiasm for India’s second-tier cities. Among emerging cities, global business leaders ranked Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Vadodara, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam respectively as the top five emerging cities to attract FDI. In 2014, FDI projects in smaller cities surged 79%, compared with just 21% in metropolises, finds the report.
35% of businesses established in India rate Ahmedabad as India’s leading emerging city, followed by Vadodara (15%), while non-established investors (non-resident Indians) preferred Jaipur.
In a press release, Rajiv Memani, EY Chairman of the Global Emerging Markets Committee and India Regional Managing Partner said, “The survey findings are a testament to India’s growing appeal with the global investment community. Over the last year, the improvement in India’s macroeconomic indicators, accompanied with the ongoing efforts to revitalize growth have offered new hope to investors. It is an encouraging start and we need to build upon it further.”
To accelerate investments, the respondents highlighted India’s chief priorities as improving infrastructure, enhancing the ease of doing business, introducing a uniform goods and services tax, improving labour laws, initiating investor-friendly FDI policies and strengthening dispute-resolution processes.
