Majority of foreign companies plan expansions and perceive 'opportunities' for higher investment provided bottlenecks in infrastructure, legal and labour laws are removed, a survey by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said.

The survey carried out on 135 MNCs, however, ranked India below China and emerging nations like Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Russia on parameters like policy framework, rate of return, infrastructure, labour and tax laws.

The survey would be presented to the ministries of finance and industry shortly, Ficci senior vice-president, Y K Modi, told reporters after releasing the survey in New Delhi on Thursday.

"Overall assessment of India as an investment destination is positive according to 40 per cent of respondents, while 44 per cent viewed it as neutral. About 82 per cent perceive opportunities for greater FDI," he said.

About 62 per cent of MNCs were posting profits while 9.0 per cent were breaking even, it said, adding last year only 36 per cent MNCs were out of red and 25 per cent broke even.

"78 per cent of the companies have plans for expansion of their Indian operations, as compared to 51 per cent in the last year's survey," Modi said adding more than 53 per cent of the MNCs reported 50-75 per cent capacity utilisation.

The survey said majority of companies feel government's efforts to attract FDI are 'average' to 'good'.

Growth prospect of Indian market was 'medium' as judged by 66 per cent MNCs while 16 per cent viewed it as 'high'.

"This is a sizeable proportion and a pointer in the direction that despite global slowdown, Indian market is resilient and continues to move along at a reasonable pace," Modi said.