India targets $500b infra investment

India expects an investment of about $500 billion in the infrastructure sector by 2012, according to the minister of state for industry, Mr Ashwani Kumar. Stating that India is a rapidly growing economy with huge demands for power networks, transportation systems and ports, Mr Kumar said the government is laying special emphasis on infrastructure. Hence the special encouragement for foreign direct investment apart from domestic investment in transport, connectivity, power and energy, both in the rural and the urban sectors, Mr Kumar said here at the inaugural session of 28th India International Trade Fair (IITF). “The large turnout of participants at the fair is a decisive testimony to the world’s continuing faith in the resilience and the future of Indian economy,” he said. “Greater economic cooperation between Pakistan and India and, in a larger context, Saarc and Asean countries will ensure faster growth of the region, raising incomes and opening job opportunities for the people of the region,” he said. He also expressed the hope that Asean nations would increasingly come to view India as their natural trading partner in Asia.