Global reports reflect India's success in opening sectors: Official

Commenting on two global reports on the rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in India and improvement in its global competitiveness index, a senior official said on Wednesday it reflected the success of opening of Indian sectors to foreign capital.

"This success has been achieved at a time when FDI globally has fallen by about 16 percent. India has seen a huge surge in FDI inflows and this is largely because this government has opened up vast sectors," department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant said here.

India moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world's most competitive economies compiled by the World Economic Forum.

"The jump in India's position underlines the country's recent economic recovery, improvement in the competitiveness of the country's institutions and its macro-economic environment and a slight improvement in infrastructure," the WEF's Global Competitiveness Report said.

Moreover, a Financial Times newspaper report said India had surpassed China and the US in attracting the most FDI in the first half of 2015.

The report said India had attracted $31 billion in FDI, ahead of $28 billion for China and $27 billion in the US.

"A lot of red tape has been cut. We have made things extremely easy; we have created a sense of competitiveness among states and you will see this competitive spirit among states driving India forward far more vigorously," Kant said.

"We expect this momentum to further accelerate," he added.

The DIPP secretary said he was also confident that India's ranking in the World Bank's report on ease of doing business would improve.

"We are looking at a three-year plan. We expect India's position to improve next year and in the third year we expect India to come in the top 50," Kant said.

Kant earlier said that FDI inflow in August jumped by 74 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

"Good news! FDI equity inflow in d month of August 2015 registered an increase of 74 per cent compared 2 same month last year," he said in a tweet.