India's FDI Confidence ranking drops by 4 points, from 7th to 11th position: AT Kearney

By Rajiv Shah
Top international consultants AT Kearney have noted that, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India drive, India has dropped from the top 10 positions in foreign direct investment (FDI) confidence index for the first time since 2002. In a just-released report, “Connected Risks: Investing in a Divergent World”, the consultants’ rankings show that India in 2015 ranks No 11th, down from the seventh position in 2014.
All this has happened at a time when “the country's Make in India initiative, launched in September 2014, aims to improve the ease of doing business in India, and remove or relax foreign equity caps in several areas”, the report says. The report also notes this development when the Government of India’s “revised estimates” suggested the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew “faster than China’s last year”, and its consumer market remained “significant, sparking broad investor interest.”

The report notes that India’s FDI confidence index ranking was No 2 in 2007, when what then seemed to be an unstable Congress-led coalition at the Centre ruled the country. The ranking remained high over the years when the coalition was in power – No 3 in 2010, No 2 in 2012, No 5 in 2013, and No 7 in 2014, when the UPA government was thrown out of power by a sweeping win by Modi-led BJP.

Despite India “overtaking” China in GDP growth, the report notes that the country remains No 2 of the 25 top FDI Confidence index ranking. It says, “Business executives are carefully watching China for economic growth of around 7 percent, and for signs of a successful transition to a consumption-led economy.”

The report adds, “If those indicators emerge, most executives say their companies would increase investment activity into China. Overall, countries in Asia Pacific have a mixed showing in the Index, with Japan rising to 7th (from 19th last year), and South Korea reentering the Index at 16th after going unranked last year. Australia (10th), India (11th), and Singapore (15th) fall in the rankings but maintain top 20 positions.”
Interestingly, India’s ranking has petered despite the fact that only 12 per cent of business executives – one of the lowest among the top 25 countries – felt negative about India’s FDI confidence level. On the other hand as many as 28 per cent of executives felt positive about India, which was lower than only four other countries – US (46 per cent), Canada (35 per cent), Germany (33 per cent), and China (31 per cent).

The FDI Confidence Index, established by AT Kearney in 1998, claims to examine the “overarching trends in FDI”, ranking the top 25 countries. About its methodology, the report says, it is a “forward-looking analysis of how political, economic, and regulatory changes will likely affect countries' FDI inflows in the coming years”, adding, “Over its 17-year history, there has been a strong correlation between the rankings and global FDI flows.”

Comments

GreenTech Summit claims NCR as key green building hub, without pan-India comparison

By A Representative The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), under the Confederation of Indian Industry, held its GreenTech Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where industry representatives, policymakers and sustainability professionals discussed the adoption of climate technologies in India’s built environment.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan* India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

Beyond the election manifesto: Why climate is now a kitchen table issue

By Vikas Meshram* March has long been a month of gentle transition, the period when winter softly retreats and a mild warmth signals nature’s renewal. Yet, in recent years, this dependable rhythm has been disrupted. This year, since the beginning of March, temperatures across vast swathes of the country have shattered previous records, soaring to between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. This is not a mere fluctuation in the weather; it is a serious and alarming indicator of climate change .

As India logs historic emissions drop, expert warns govt against 'policy blunders'

By A Representative In a significant development that underscores the rapid transformation of India's energy landscape, new data reveals the country recorded its largest drop in power sector emissions in 2025. However, a top power sector analyst has urged the Union Government to view this "silver lining" as a stark warning against continuing to invest in new coal, large hydro, and nuclear projects, which he argues could become "redundant" stranded assets.

Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque under siege: A test of Muslim solidarity and Palestine’s future

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* In the cacophony of Israel’s and the United States’ attack on Iran, one piece of news has been buried under the debris of war: Israel has closed the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to Palestinian worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan. The closure, announced as indefinite, affects the third most revered mosque in the Islamic world.

Fresh citizenship framework suggested amidst electoral roll concerns

By Kathyayini Chamaraj The ongoing exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has raised serious concerns about the potential disenfranchisement of large numbers of citizens. In many instances, people are being asked to produce retrospective documents to establish their citizenship—documents that many genuine citizens are unable to provide. The challenge before policymakers is to identify prospective amendments to the Citizenship Act that would ensure that no legitimate citizen is excluded either from citizenship or from the electoral roll.

Search This Blog