NRIs second largest FDI source

 NRI investments approved in the first four months of the year stood at Rs 222.9 crore, which is slightly lower than the Rs 243.4 crore from Mauritius but higher than the Rs 210.7 crore from the US, the two largest investors in the country.

 It also contributed as much as 18.5 per cent of the total FDI worth Rs 1204.4 crore approved by the government during the period.

 In the whole of 2002, NRI investments were 3.2 per cent of the total FDI approved and in 2001, the share was only 2.3 per cent.

 In comparison, China received $32 billion out of a total of $45 billion FDI in 2001 from non-resident Chinese.

 FDI approved by the government (Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Reserve Bank of India) are used as indicators of FDI intent by foreign investors.

 Though figures were not available, government sources said actual NRI investment inflows are also significantly high this year.

 The sources also point to the fact that the current FDI approval figures put out by the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance (SIA) in the commerce and industry ministry are based on pure NRI applications.

 The figures could be higher if NRI investments in many other joint ventures were also accounted for.

 Though these figures can be taken with a pinch of salt since the overall FDI approved during the first four months of the year has taken a dip -- sources said that the decline in as high as 20-25 per cent based on the new formula.

 But, as the sources point out, NRI investments has only increased. In 2002 and 2001, for instance, NRI investment approved was Rs 360.4 crore and Rs 607.9 crore, respectively.

 In the same years, investments from Mauritius was Rs 1,846.6 crore and Rs 2892.5 crore and that from the US Rs 2051.1 crore and Rs 4,921.5 crore, respectively.

 A senior government official attributed the increase of NRI investment approvals in the total FDI share to an overall decline in approvals in the past few months. .

 He explained that