India to attract $80 billion FDI over 12-24 months, says a Morgan Stanley survey

New Delhi: Over the next 12-24 months India could attract a massive $80 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a research report by Morgan Stanley. India received $48-billion FDI in the last two years. "The findings show that global companies see real opportunity in India and that their investment appetite is increasing, notwithstanding continuing negative perceptions around infrastructure bottlenecks," said Ridham Desai, head of India Research at Morgan Stanley. The startling number came out of a survey of 176 of the firm's internationally-based research analyst teams that cover 1,766 global companies. These teams determined the likely India investment opportunity recognised by the companies they covered. The survey did not involve direct interaction with the companies. "Conducting a survey among large companies worldwide was not feasible due to very high costs and time taken," the detailed note says explaining the survey. The 20% of the companies covered in the survey have already invested nearly $80 billion into India, almost 53% of the total FDI into the country. "As per our global analysts, 59 new companies are likely to invest in India while 67 of the currently invested global companies are unlikely to make further investments," the report says. However, according to the survey, despite the intentions to pump in such large amounts India is still not a high priority destination