Remittances from overseas Indians touched an all-time high of 66.13 billion US dollars during 2011-12 while the foreign direct investment (FDI) during the period was 35.1 billion US dollars.
Remittances by Indians abroad (private transfers) to the country are on the rise for the past few years, pointed out Sujata Sudarshan, CEO of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC), a public-private-partnership between the Ministry of Overseas, Indian Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry.
She was speaking to ‘Express’ in the backdrop of the OIFC Marketplace at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held here from January 7 to 9.
“Private transfers are on an increase mainly on account of the remittances from non-resident Indians. Of these remittances, 61 per cent account for meeting family expenses in India, 20 per cent are bank deposits and 7 per cent for land, property and shares,” she said.
The Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre has been into facilitating the Indian diaspora and assisting them in deepening its economic engagement with the country.
The major activities of the OIFC include addressing the queries of overseas Indians, operating the networking of portal and diaspora meets and business forums.
“Connect and facilitate is what we do at OIFC. We get queries from the Indian diaspora on various issues, including consulting for investment and other aspects. The OIFC has been organising business meets to address their issues and connect them with others,” she said adding that NRIs who want to invest here approach OIFC seeking assistance.
However, the follow-up activities for such projects are being done by other sections under the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry.
“We do tie-up with NRI (Non Resident Indian) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) organisations abroad. In addition we have the state governments here as partners. We provide a platform for the Indian diaspora to clear their doubts and connect with authorities here,” Sujata Sudarshan said.