2012, a bad year for the FDI: Govt

Government today said 2012 has been a bad year for FDI due to global economic slowdown and steps were being taken to increase its inflow.

Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said government had no plan to bring a FDI policy only for the manufacturing sector saying it was not sector specific.

"The overall environment has affected the inflow of funds into the country. Because of global economic slowdown, capital investment has not taken place...Government is taking all possible measures to increase investment in the country," he said.

The Minister said India's manufacturing sector has been affected due to the global slowdown, with its share in GDP continuing to hover around 15 to 16 per cent during the past decade.

"Government is taking a number of steps for development of manufacturing sector, including those for boosting employment including rural employment," Sharma said.

The Minister said it was not right to say that the manufacturing sector, which provides 11 per cent employment, has not grown. "The GDP has grown and so has the manufacturing sector," he said.

Listing out measures taken by the government to boost the manufacturing sector, Sharma said government has announced the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP), 2011, with the objective of increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent and creating 100 million more jobs over a decade.

He said the Policy envisages setting up of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs), which are industrial townships benchmarked to the best manufacturing hubs in the world.

"So far eight NIMZs have been announced along Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Four other NIMZs, outside the DMIC have been granted "in-principle" approval - two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Karnataka and Maharashtra. NMP also envisages skill development as a priority area," Sharma said.