News: 'Ovearseas acquisition new facet of India, Inc.'

(PTI 23/11/2006) New Delhi - Indian companies raring to go for overseas acquisitions have emerged as the new facet of the globalisation process, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said. "Indian companies are hungry to go abroad, acquire manufacturing firms as well as technology, R&D capabilities, patents, brands and position themselves as serious players in new markets," Chidambaram said at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs in Wellington recently. India is now increasingly regarded as a capable and dependable centre for research and development and a source of new ideas in science and technology, he said. "A large number of companies that feature among the world's largest corporations have established a research base in India," he said. The outward investment by Indian companies in the last three years has been estimated at $ 1.5 billion, $ 4.5 billion and $ 7.5 billion. "The numbers may still be small by the world standards. However, in my view this is only a beginning," Chidambaram said. Besides, there is a remarkable revival of interest in Indian culture, music and movies, he said adding this has been spurred by the Indian diaspora. To sustain high growth, India requires $ 320 billion investment in infrastructure in the next five years, which also offer an opportunity for foreign investors, he said.