India to fall short of FDI target by $10bn: Assocham survey

India may miss its foreign direct investment (FDI) target by as much as $10 billion, a survey revealed today. In a survey of prominent CEOs by industry body Assocham, it is said that in the backdrop of the current global economic slowdown and the US financial crisis, India could optimally receive about $25-26 billion of FDI in 2008-09 against the targeted volume of $35 billion.

The survey says that other factors like rising interest rates, adverse stock market sentiments, bottlenecks on infrastructure and little initiatives on disinvestment may also hinder the investment flow to India.

The target of FDI in the last fiscal was $30 billion, of which the total investment received were about $25 billion. About 300 CEOs were interviewed for the survey and they said, sectors like services, computer software and hardware, construction, real estate and telecom would lead in getting FDI in 2008-09.