News: Manmohan Singh sets $30 b foreign investment target

(IANS 04/05/2007) New Delhi - Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has received a pat on his back from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for enhanced foreign direct investment inflow into the country, even as he set a target of $30 billion for this fiscal.

In a letter complimenting Kamal Nath and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the prime minister hoped every effort would be made to cross the $30 billion mark in foreign investment inflows during 2007-08.

Foreign capital inflows into India had increased to $16 billion in 2006-07 from $5.5 billion in the previous year to register a whopping 275 per cent jump, as per official data.

Taking into account the retained earnings, the inflow of such investment was $19 billion in 2006-07, against $7.7 billion the year before, prompting the commerce minister to set an enhanced target of $25 billion for this fiscal last month.

This, he said, would be possible with the acquisition of i-Flex Solutions by a global IT firm Oracle that was expected to bring $2.8 billion into the country in addition to the enhanced investment interest in India internationally.