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Foreign direct investment will be $5 bn, says industry secy

Industry Secretary T R Prasad today said that foreign direct investment would double to touch five billion dollars by the end of the current fiscal year (April 1997-March 1998) from the $2.4 billion last fiscal year.

"We had received 2.94 billion dollars by October 1997 and expect it to touch five billion dollars at the end of this fiscal,'' Prasad said at a meeting of the Indo-Italian Partnership in New Delhi.

India, he said, has been inward looking for too long and is 20 years behind China in opening its markets. ''But our commitment to reforms is unwavering. We have some catching up to do with China,'' he added.

Prasad said the Reserve Bank of India would be empowered to directly clear all investment proposals ''only after a government is in place at the Centre.''

Although no definite time frame has been set for the purpose, the empowerment of RBI and disbanding of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board would be done only after the general elections, he added.

''We are trying to reduce bureaucracy and interference in investment matters," he said. "To start with, the RBI would be given the approval powers.''

The industry secretary called upon the Italian business community to explore the investment opportunities in India and take advantage of the large and cheap technical manpower here.

"In India, it will cost you only one-fifth the price of what it takes to operate in the United States, particularly in the software industry.''

UNI