International Events.qxd

ECONOMY
America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia and New
Zealand, according to company statement.
According to a report by RNCOS, "Global Vaccine
Market Forecast to 2012" published in February 2010, the
vaccine market in India is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of
around 23 per cent from 2009-10 to 2011-12. India has
emerged as a new hub for vaccine manufacturers from
across the world.
FDI
India attracted FDI equity inflows of US$ 2.1 billion during
September 2010. The cumulative amount of FDI equity
inflows from August 1991 to September 2010 stood at US$
140 billion, while the amount of FDI inflow into India during
the fiscal year 2010-11 (April-September 2010) stood at
US$ 2 billion, according to the latest data released by the
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Services sector attracted the maximum FDI during April-
September 2010 with US$ 2 billion. The country received
maximum FDI from countries like Mauritius, Singapore, and
the US with US$ 3.8 billion, US$ 1.1 billion and US$ 724 million,
respectively, during April-September 2009-10.
FII
The total inflows of foreign institutional investors (FIIs)
have crossed the record US$ 38.76 billion mark so far in
2010, as per a news report published on December 2, 2010.
According to data available with Securities & Exchange
Board of India (SEBI), FIIs have made investments worth
US$ 4.11 billion in equities and invested US$ 667.71 million
into the debt market.
Capital inflows
As per the report, "Macroeconomic and Monetary
Developments Second Quarter Review 2010-11", the net
surplus in the capital account in the first quarter of 2010-11
exceeded the levels of the previous two quarters, as well as
the financing need in the current account. The net capital
flow from October-December 2010 is projected to reach
US$ 14.7 billion, while the figure would touch US$ 16.1 billion
during January-March 2011.
Projections for India’s GDP Growth in 2010-11
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) in its latest Economic Outlook released
in November 2010, has expected India’s real GDP to rise by 9.l
per cent during fiscal 2010-11. This is an upward revision from
its earlier projected growth of 8.3 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October,
2010 said that India’s macroeconomic performance has
been vigorous, with industrial production at a two-year high.
Leading indicators like the production manufacturing index
and measures of business and consumer confidence continue
to point upward, it said. For 2010, the IMF place GDP
growth at 9.7 per cent and 8.4 per cent in 2011.The growth
will be led increasingly by domestic demand. Robust corporate
profits and favourable external financing are expected
16 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011
to encourage investment, says the IMF.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised India’s
GDP growth projection for 2010-11 upward to 8.5 per cent
in September 2010, from 8.2 per cent estimated in the outlook
released in April 2010. For 2011-12, it has maintained
its earlier projected growth of 8.7 per cent. Sustained business
optimism and rebounded corporate earnings in the second
half of 2009-10 are likely to support new investment,
despite a hardening of interest rates in recent months.
The World Bank had released its South Asia Economic
Update in June 2010. In the release the Bank revised India’s
real GDP growth to 8.5 per cent in 2010-11 from 7.5 percent
projected in January 2010. The Bank further said that
risks to the outlook come from volatility in capital inflows,
global recovery and inflation shocks.
The Reserve Bank of India in its second quarter review
of the monetary policy 2010-11 kept the real GDP growth
projection at 8.5 per cent in 2010-11, same as projected in
September 2010. Earlier in April 2010, it had projected eight
per cent growth. This upward revision is primarily based on
better industrial production and its favourable impact on the
services sector, says the RBI.
The Ministry of Finance released Mid-year analysis in
November 2010. It has place India’s real GDP growth for
2010-11 in the range of 8.4-9.1 per cent.
Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the strongholds of the Indian economy
and accounts for 14.6 per cent of the country’s gross
domestic product (GDP) in 2009-10, and 10.23 per cent
(provisional) of the total exports. Furthermore, the sector
provided employment to 55 per cent of the work force.
India’s agriculture and allied sector grew by 3.8 per cent
in the first six months of the current fiscal (2010-11). Capital
investment in agriculture has increased from US$ 1.2 billion
in 2007-08 to US$ 3.26 billion in 2010-11 (inclusive of State
Plan Scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana), as per a
Ministry of Agriculture press release dated August 3, 2010.
How farmers are finding fortune in fruits and raking in crores
Farmer Vishwas Kachare lives in a 40,000 sq ft farm
house in Telangwadi near Solapur, a far cry from the small
hut he and his wife lived in 30 years ago. Over the period,
Kachare borrowed money from friends and bought a few
farmyard animals. In 1985, he purchased 27 acres of barren
land. Using drip irrigation, Kachare cultivated pomegranate,
and his toil has yielded him more than a bounty. Today, his
orchard extends to 300 acres, and he owns, in addition to
the farm house, a cold storage and packaging house worth
crores, a few cars and much more.
Kachare’s transformation is the stuff of textbooks in
Maharashtra’s schools. But more than that, it is representative
of a silent fruit revolution in the state’s drought-prone
areas, and some of the hilly regions in the North. Annual
fruit production is growing by almost 15%. Exports of
Indian fruits have grown to Rs 1,269 crore from 450 crore
in only two financial years. ❖
The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain