FDI: DESTINATION INDIA

India continues to enjoy a high level of confidence among overseas investors who have invested about $24 billion during the first 10 months of the financial year 2008-09, up 66% compared to the corresponding period last year. In contrast, worldwide, foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 21% last year to $1.4 trillion, estimates the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD).

In the month of January 2009 alone, FDI inflows worth $2.74 billion represented a rise of about 55% year-on-year. China, by contrast, saw a 33% drop in FDI compared to the same month last year as it’s manufacturing-based economy was more negatively affected by tightening global credit, recession and falling corporate profits.

India is expected to close the financial year ended March 31, 2009 with $28 billion of FDI against inflows of $24.5 billion in the previous year. If reinvested earnings of foreign companies are taken in to account, that figure is expected to increase to about $38 billion, up from $34.3 billion in the previous fiscal year.

World's top IPO - $8-bn; India's total - $8.3-bn

Indian bourses saw over eight billion dollars worth of initial public offers in 2007, but this is just a shade higher than the world's single-largest IPO that was brought by a Russian company, latest data show. The worldwide IPO activity raised a record capital of 255 billion dollars till November in 2007, including 8.3 billion dollars on Indian bourses, according to data compiled by international consultancy firm Ernst and Young. India was the fifth largest market in terms of number of IPOs and seventh largest in terms of the proceeds for the year, E&Y said.

The Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/
Worlds-top-IPO-8bn-Indias-total-8-3bn/254467/