NewsGram Staff Writer

New Delhi: A survey by accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) has accredited India as the most attractive country for investment. The survey whose results were published on Wednesday was carried out on over 500 global investors.

Out of the 505 executives questioned, 32 per cent voted for India as their favored market for investment. China secured the second spot with 15 per cent vote, followed by Southeast Asia, Brazil and North America.

Mark Otty, EY area managing partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa said, "investors increasingly see the potential and understand the fundamentals" in the country so "there is no doubt that interest in India has increased."

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant, expressing satisfaction over the result, said, "the finding reconfirms and reaffirms many other recent findings."

He further said, the government will look at the foreign direct investment policy "with a very open mind."

"We continue to attract investments across and it is important that India becomes a part of the global supply chain," Kant said.

Lauding the investment friendly atmosphere in India, the investors rated its vast domestic market and availability of labor as the most lucrative features.

The Ernst & Young survey titled 'Ready, set, grow' was conducted during March and April and includeed views of over 500 decision-makers from multinational organizations across sectors like industrial, automotive, consumer products, life sciences, infrastructure and technology, among others.

(With inputs from AFP and HT)