East India company came to India as traders and eventually ruled India . Multinationals are marauders who loot developing countries . How many times have you heard this . There is no doubt that the world has changed many times over since the 19th century when the East India company landed on the shores of Bengal ..but the mindset of many in India does not seem to have .

Many amongst us mortally fear the dreaded monster called “FDI” . Not that all the fears are ill founded and surely certain precautions and monitoring is needed with regard to the inflow of foreign funds in to the country . We need to ensure that the money comes where it is needed most and that it does not go in to sectors which would compromise our security or would adversely harm the local industry . However being paranoid about FDI and placing obstacles in its path would only result in less FDI coming in and that would be detrimental to the country’s growth . Why does India need FDI ? India is a developing country which needs to develop basic infrastructure such as roads , airports and ports . We need to built up our energy sources may they be thermal or nuclear ; we need to strengthen our rural economy and thereby help bring millions out of poverty . All this would require tons of funds and domestically we are not in a position to generate so much from our savings . Apart from the government we need the private sector to invest in this development and the domestic private sector can only do so much and they too need access to foreign funds . Today due to globalisation money is freely flowing from one destination to another and seeks greener pastures . High growth and better returns are possible only in a few regions of the world , India enviously being one amongst them . The foreign investor would be willing to invest if the environment is right : 1) Safety of the capital invested 2) Good corporate laws which make it possible to do your business by fair means . 3) Better returns which can be repatriated .

Why not then take benefit of this situation and create an environment where we both win .. the recipient country and the foreign investor !