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World Energy Outlook 2007

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of growth in energy demand. How the deficit is cut will also be important.<br />

Reducing energy subsidies is important, even though it will make consumers<br />

more vulnerable to high international oil prices. Cutting employment<br />

in the state-owned coal sector has proven to be very difficult. Privatising the<br />

electricity sector has had mixed results in India (see Chapter 17).<br />

Investment and Business Climate<br />

The framework conditions for doing business in India have improved as a<br />

result of economic reform. India has simplified business registration, cutting<br />

the time required to set up a business from 71 to 35 days. Tax payments have<br />

been simplified and the corporate income tax rate reduced. In addition, a<br />

Supreme Court decision to simplify the rules governing loan collateral has<br />

helped to ease access to credit. Import and export processing times have fallen<br />

following the introduction of new risk-management procedures in customs<br />

and investor protection has improved as a result of changes in stock-exchange<br />

rules. But there is still considerable room for improvements. India is ranked<br />

134th in the <strong>World</strong> Bank’s global rankings of the ease of conducting business<br />

(<strong>World</strong> Bank, <strong>2007</strong>).<br />

Compared to China, potential investors in India face greater regulatory<br />

hurdles and other constraints on investment. India has accordingly attracted<br />

far less foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2005, FDI amounted to<br />

$72.4 billion in China, and only $6.6 billion in India. 11 But FDI has<br />

increased rapidly in India since 2004, including a three-fold increase in the<br />

year to March <strong>2007</strong> (OECD, <strong>2007</strong>). The introduction in India of special<br />

economic zones (SEZs), which have been successful in attracting foreign<br />

investment in China, should increase foreign capital flows even further (Box<br />

14.2). Foreign investment flows currently differ widely between Indian<br />

states, since production and labour market reforms have progressed at<br />

varying speeds. The richest states attract most of the foreign direct<br />

investment and those states with the most FDI also have the highest rates of<br />

investment generally. According to the <strong>World</strong> Bank, six states – Andhra<br />

Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu –<br />

attracted over 66% of total FDI in 2003, down only slightly on their 72%<br />

share in the 1990s (<strong>World</strong> Bank, 2006a). Seven of the least developed states<br />

– Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and<br />

Uttar Pradesh – attracted only 13% of FDI in the 1990s.<br />

Capital formation is an important source of economic growth in emerging<br />

economies. In India in 2000, the level of capital formation as a percentage<br />

of GDP was below that of China and roughly equivalent to that of Japan,<br />

14<br />

11. http://stats.unctad.org.<br />

Chapter 14 – Political, Economic and Demographic Context 437

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