Indian FDI to EU will hit $25 bn this year: Study

The foreign direct investment (FDI) outflow from India to the European Union (EU) may cross the $25 billion mark this year, according to a joint finding by two European investment bodies from France and Germany.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) outflow from India to the European Union (EU) may cross the $25 billion mark this year, according to a joint finding by two European investment bodies from France and Germany. The trade bodies — Invest in France and Invest in Germany — expect the FDI inflow to the EU from India to rise over 56 per cent from an estimated $16 billion in 2006.

“Indian companies are investing in Europe mainly through big acquisitions and with more number of acquisition and investment proposals coming from the Indian companies, we expect the investment figure to well cross $25 billion this year,” French ambassador for international investment and president of Invest in France Philippe Favre said.

The $25 billion figure includes over 12 billion dollar worth of the Tata-Corus deal and over $6 billion worth of the Birla-Hindalco deal, he said. In France alone, 50 Indian companies are present and the number is expected to cross 70 by the end of the year, Favre said. “We expect at least 15-20 new companies to open shops in France either through acquisitions or through subsidiaries and one each from pharma and automobile have almost finalised their investment plans for France,” he said.

Favre declined to divulge details of the deals or the names of the companies, saying that they are bound by non-disclosure agreements. “With a large amount of FDI pouring into France, we expect the FDI imbalance between the two countries, which till now was tilted in favour of India, to be balanced in the next two years,” he added.