India's Investment Skyline
Bright - Study

India, with its strong fundamentals, has withstood the worst-ever financial crisis to sweep the world in recent times. India continues to be an ideal destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a study conducted recently.

The comprehensive economic research study of the country's industrial climate was conducted jointly by New Media and Indicus Analytics, and titled “Investment Skyline of India” is a definitive guideline to investors for identifying the five top states in the country for best returns on their investments.

This positive aspect, highlighted in the study, has found its echo in the assessment of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of India's economic growth by none other than the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, following her recent visit to this country.

Answering questions on the US State Department website, she said: "India's six percent growth rate is a bright spot amid the global economic downturn, and bilateral trade and investment flows between our nations have doubled in the last five years." The 300 million members of India's burgeoning middle class present a vast new market and investment opportunity, Clinton added.

"Our countries should work together to open that market and spread the benefits of sustainable prosperity. We and the rest of the world have a lot to gain from our enhanced cooperation," she said.

Talking about relations between India and US, Clinton said both countries could mutually benefit from former's economic progress. "I know that some Americans fear that greater partnership with India will mean lost jobs or falling wages in the US. But if we manage our relationship well, both sides can benefit from India's economic progress," she said.

In the study, India's western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat topped the list occupying the first and second slots respectively. The other three slots were occupied by the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, followed by the northern state of Delhi, as ideal destinations for investment.

“Our purpose is to identify leading states based on several relevant indicators that reflect investment friendliness,” said Satya Swaroop, Managing Editor of New Media, adding that the study had taken into consideration, nine broad parameters for purposes of determining the states' investment potential.

These parameters include the state's income, capital formation, the size of its market, and infrastructure availability in the key areas of power, transportation, telecommunications, health and education, besides the process of urbanization it has undergone.

“The current study is unique because it is half yearly and dynamic. It does not offer year-old statistics as done in the routine annual studies,” Swaroop said.

Amit Sinha, President of Indicus Analytics, one of India's leading economics research firms, said, “Our estimation model consisting of econometric modeling, statistical analysis and neural networks allows us to estimate data with great accuracy. Indicus is able to estimate GDP at district level and several consumer market parameters such as incomes, expenditures and savings at district and city levels. We are in a unique position to not only identify states but also specific districts in a state and its characteristics”

GSDP & Share in India's GDP
In terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Maharashtra is well ahead of other states, being the financial and commercial hub of the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat. Also, in the same order, Maharashtra tops the list in terms of the share in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and together they account for 40 percent of the total GDP of the country.

However, concentration of major economic activities in a few states is established further with the fact that the next five states contribute 37 percent to country's GDP while the balance 18 states account for 23 percent.

Capital Formation
In terms of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), Maharashtra topped the list of five, followed by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. In the same order, the top five states contribute as much as 57 percent to India's gross fixed capital formation. The share of top 10 states is 80 percent of the country's GFCF.

Power Infrastructure
In terms of connected load for industrial usage, the most industrialized states of the country in the order are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. These five states also figure in terms of power consumption for industrial usage. Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are close followers to these five states. The top five states account for 56 percent of share in India's total load for industrial usage.

In terms of number of consumers for industrial usage, the five listed are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the last being an inclusion in the list. This might be due to the fact that small scale industries are quite prevalent in the state. In terms of the share in country's total consumers for industrial usage, Maharashtra tops the list, accounting for 17 percent.

Transportation Infrastructure
In terms of projected expenditure on roads and bridges during the period 2005-10, Maharashtra again shows its prominence as India's most favoured investment destination. However, the pattern also suggests a better and developed road network in the western and southern parts of the country.

Of the share of total projected expenditure on roads and bridges, the five states account for almost 50 percent of the total projected expenditure on roads and bridges of the country. For obvious reason these listed stated have a fast mover advantage over others.

Urban Population
In terms of the size of urban population in the state, Maharashtra again the top ranking state. Also, contribution of these five top ranking states is exactly half of India's total urban population.

Apart from identifying the top five states under a composite final index that covered all the parameters, the study also looks at selected demographic, infrastructure and market related parameters to name the five top states in the country for investments, for each of the parameters.

Greater Achievements by Smaller States
GDP Growth: The study has also thrown up some unique feats achieved by the smaller and seemingly the most unlikely states, For instance, Mizoram topped the list of five states in urban growth. Similarly, Manipur headed the list for high average annual GDP growth in the last five years among all states, ahead of other unlikely competitors such as Jarkhand, Haryana, Nagaland and Uttaranchal.

Health Infrastructure: Similarly, the smaller states have scored over their bigger counterparts in health infrastructure in terms of the number of public and community health centres. The list of the top five states in this category includes Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya. However, Sikkim scored first in the number of hospitals per million population followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Delhi and Nagaland. In the matter of the number of beds available in government hospitals, it was Nagaland that topped the top five, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Orissa and Gujarat.

Educational Infrastructure: Kerala, India's most literate State, has naturally topped the Education Development Index, followed by Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. In the matter of literacy, it is Kerala again at the top slot, followed by Mizoram, Goa, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

About the organizers of the study
New Media is India's largest bilateral trade magazine publishing house, with its footprints in as many as 125 countries across six continents. New Media publications, which include Indo-US Business, Indo-Swiss Business, Indo-Australian Business and Open Trade, are supported by reputed chambers of commerce and trade associations of various countries and enjoy the patronage of their respective consulates in the city. Three of its bilingual publications, Indo-African Business (English and French), Indo-LAC Business (in English and Spanish) and Indo-CIS Business (in English and Russian) are published in association with Export Import Bank of India.

Indicus Analytics is a premier Indian economics research firm. It services the data and policy analysis requirements of highly research oriented entities, which include the most respected academic institutions and international organizations, key policymakers, and top decision makers in industry.

Some illustrious examples of those who have cited and used Indicus research, over the years are former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman, Thirteenth Finance Commission, the Reserve Bank of India and other institutions.

Constant interaction with internationally recognized experts and continuing non-funded research activities, have ensured national and international recognition for Indicus research services and data products. Reputed users of Indicus studies Include:
• Government organizations- RBI, Finance Commission
• Multilateral institutions- The World Bank, UNICEF, EU, DFID
• Universities - Stanford, Harvard, and Cambridge.
• Research organizations - Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, NCAER, RIS, IDF
(To access the complete study, please visit www.newmediacomm.com)