Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India may
cross $35 billion in 2011-12 as against $19.4 billion in the last financial year, on account of major deals like Reliance Industries (RIL)-BP and Posco.
"I would expect FDI to cross $35 billion...Big investment projects like RIL-BP deal and Posco would help in pushing the numbers," a senior official said.
Foreign investors are confident of India's economic growth as even during the peak of the global economic crisis, the country's GDP registered a healthy growth rate, the official said.
In 2008-09 and 2009-10, India's GDP grew 6.8 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. During these periods, most of the western economies had registered a dismal growth.
The government on July 22 cleared the BP Plc
buying 30 per cent stake in most of RIL's oil and gas blocks, including the showpiece KG-D6 gas fields, for $7.2 billion, one of the biggest FDI in India.
In May, the Environment Ministry had given conditional approval to South Korean steel giant
Posco's $12 billion steel plant in Orissa, the country's biggest single FDI project. The company is negotiating terms and conditions with the Orissa government.
In May and June, foreign direct investment in the country jumped to $4.66 billion and $5.65 billion, respectively.
"Going by the growth rate of FDI in the last few months, we may touch this ($35 billion) figure," KPMG Executive Director Krishan Malhotra said.
Malhotra said it was the right time for the government to introduce reforms like allowing
FDI in multi-brand retail, to capitalise on the downfall of western markets like the US and Europe and make India as an attractive investment destination.
In the April-June period of the current financial year, FDI went up to a massive $13.44 billion from $5.77 billion in the corresponding period last year.
However, in 2010-11, FDI into India declined to $19.43 billion from $25.6 billion in 2009-10. In 2008-09, FDI stood at $27.3 billion.
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