Agency report
 
New Delhi, Sep 2: India has emerged as among the 10 major developing country recipients of foreign direct investment but still lags far behind its neighbour China in terms of FDI inflows received, a UN report has said.

FDI inflows to India stood at $ 5.5 billion in 2004, making it the tenth largest developing economy in terms of overseas investment received, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) 2006 report.

China led the pack with $60.6 billion of FDI inflows, followed by Hong Kong with $ 34 billion and Mexico with $18.7 billion, the report said.

Developing countries across the world received $275 billion of FDI in 2004, of which the share of the top ten was $189.8 billion.

However, India did not figure among the top ten developing countries with the largest FDI inward stock. Hong Kong had a FDI stock of $ 456.8 billion, China $245.5 billion and Mexico $182.5 billion.
 

UNCTAD said the absolute amount of FDI inflows did not give a clear picture of the importance of impact of foreign investment in a country and compared FDI inflows to the GDP.

Inward stock of FDI in India as a percentage of GDP has risen to 5.9 per cent in 2004, from just 0.5 per cent in 1990, indicating the growing importance of overseas investment in the country's economy. China, on the other hand, saw its FDI stock as a percentage of GDP grow to 14.9 per cent in 2004, as against 5.8 per cent in 1990, the report said.