The economists worldwide are predicting a resurgent India riding on the back of renewed thrust on the foreign direct investment. FDI in India is expected to cross $ 12 billion during 2006-07 fiscal! It was $ 8 billion during the same period last year.

The government estimates that out of $ 12 billion, $ 8 billion should come in the form of equity and the balance from re-invested earnings and other capital inflows. Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are the target markets that are expected to pump in major share of FDI in the Indian capital market, in addition to the US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Germany and France.

Further, to boost the share of FDI in the capital market, the government proposes to introduce e-biz to simplify the procedures. The electronic clearance of official files should enable speedier processing period of applications. In the pipeline is the signing of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore, which would ensure the routing of large FDI through Singapore. Till now, about 35% of FDI flows are routed through Mauritius due to the double taxation avoidance treaty of India with Malaysia.

The FDI in India is expected to get further boost with the stock markets showing maturity after a steep fall recently. The strong economic fundamental ensures that the initial shocks in the stock market are absorbed without much panic. The property investment India also looks rosy with lot of tier II and tier III cities joining IT bandwagon. In this line, Chandigarh is the upcoming hot buzz. Well developed infrastructure, proximity to Delhi and Punjab, combined with the IT talent pool makes commercial property Chandigarh - a favourite hotspot amongst the various companies searching new areas of expansion.

The direct foreign investment in India retail sector continues to draw the attention of government. While opening up the FDI in retail sector, the government is committed to protect the interests of small shopkeepers. The idea is to see where it could meet the incremental needs of the consumers. The bottom line is that the government realizes that in order to meet tough competition from emerging leaders like China, it has to adopt a liberal FDI policy.