British investment in the country is likely to increase from the current level of £3 billion to £5 billion by the turn of the century, British High Commissioner in India, Sir David Gore-Booth, said here yesterday.
Gore-Booth, who was here to attend a seminar on `Managing and Benefiting from Technological Change, under the Indo-British Partnership programme, said that current statistics, market indicators and investment interest support this.
He recommended the opening up of the insurance sector to foreign companies; the power transmission & distribution sector; and making the Forex Management Act more flexible and open as measures to encourage British investment.
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These measures, he said, would signal that the reform process is making headway and project the country as a favourite investment destination as far as British companies are concerned.
A stable government is also necessary for sustaining the economic liberalisation process which had somewhat slowed down in 1997, Gore-Booth said. Though British investors are keen on India, formation of a minority government like last time would certainly dampen investment willingness, he added.
India needs to introduce new and updated legislation to encourage foreign direct investment. Opening the insurance sector could pave the way for long-term funds that could be used for strengthening infrastructure. He said, British companies would want to invest in states where the returns are high. On the South-east Asian crises, he said that though India has been relatively insulated from the meltdown, it still is pitted against other investment destinations like China and Latin American countries.
The general feeling among British investors is that the Indian market has lot of potential but needs changes, Gore-Booth said.
There are around 240 Indo-British collaborations each year in India, but there have been only about 140 collaboration, mostly by non-resident Indians in Britain. He said India must address the environmental problems. British companies, which have made large investments to comply with international norms, have developed leading environmental technologies.
S S Prasad, vice-chairman of BOC India was the chief guest at the seminar. Among others who addressed the seminar were, David Burton, vice-president of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise, Kumar Bhattacharyya of Warwick Manufacturing Group, Mark Selwyn Gummer of Benchmark International and K Venkatarayan of Intertek Testing Services India Pvt Ltd.