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Table 1: Foreign direct investment flows to India: country wise

(US $ million)

Source	2006 07	2007 08	2008 09	2009 10 P	2010 11 P
1	2	3	4	5	6
Total FDI	9,307	19,425	22,697	22,461	14,939
Country wise inflows
Mauritius	3,780	9,518	10,165	9,801	5,616
Singapore	582	2,827	3,360	2,218	1,540
USA	706	950	1,236	2,212	1,071
Cyprus	58	570	1,211	1,623	571
Japan	80	457	266	971	1,256
Netherlands	559	601	682	804	1,417
United Kingdom	1,809	508	690	643	538
Germany	116	486	611	602	163
UAE	215	226	234	373	188
France	100	136	437	283	486
Switzerland	57	192	135	96	133
Hong Kong, China	60	106	155	137	209
Spain	62	48	363	125	183
Korea, Rep. of	68	86	95	159	136
Luxembourg	–	15	23	40	248
Others	1,055	2,699	3,035	2,376	1,184

India's main destinations for outward FDI

India's outward FDI policies have been progressively liberalised since 1992 and simplified to meet the changing needs of a growing economy. The scope for outward FDI particularly expanded significantly after the introduction of Foreign Exchange Management Act in June 2000. Subsequently, automatic route for outward FDI was further liberalised in March 2003 to enable Indian parties to invest to the extent of 100% of their net worth, which was later gradually increased to 400% which accelerated the pace of increase in cross border acquisitions.

During 2010 11, outward FDI grew significantly over 2009 10. Direction wise (i.e., in terms of recipient countries), investment routed through Mauritius constituted the largest component of gross outward FDI during the period, followed by Singapore and the Netherlands. Trend in country wise outward FDI is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Country wise distribution of India's outward FDI

(US$ million)

Sr. No.	Country	2006 07	2007 08	2008 09	2009 10	2010 11
	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Mauritius	950.3	1,512.2	2,075.1	1,371.5	5,045.1
2	Singapore	1,045.1	8,370.6	3,749.7	3,798.5	3,980.0
3	Netherlands	350. 1	1,869.8	2,794.8	1,529.9	1,516.6
4	USA	708.0	1,188.8	957.5	754.1	1,188.3
5	UAE	208.0	826.2	629.2	636.4	832.3
6	British Virgin Islands	55.2	803.8	275.9	747.5	281.1
7	UK	384.7	740.8	345.2	345.0	398.4
8	Cyprus	178.6	575.7	2,299.0	458.4	516.2
9	Others	9,357.5	2,566.3	5,072.4	2,684.2	2,938.2
10	Total	12,287.2	16,942.0	16,123.7	10,953.9	16,702.1

Source: RBI Bulletin, August 2011.

European Union

I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

(2) RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

India's report, page 13, para. 28

The report mentions the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2010 and which provides for free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 to 14.

1. 
   Would it be possible to get information about the enforcement of this act, in particular if it has impact on child labour? In this context, what is the current situation of India concerning possible ratification of ILO Conventions: C138 Minimum Age and C182 Worst Forms of child Labour?
   

Reply: India enacted the Right to Education Act in 2009 to provide every child in the age group of 6 14 years free and compulsory education. The Government has also launched a countrywide campaign of Education for All (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) for providing education to children in the aforesaid age group.

India has not ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and 182 and the issue of working out the modalities for ratifying the ILO Convention 182 in line with our Constitutional Provisions and domestic laws is under consideration. Most form of child labour is already prohibited under various Indian legislations.

It is also stated that in the areas of higher and technical education, policy initiatives aim to make the population group between 18 24 years (about 12% of the total) employable and competitive.

2. 
   Could India provide more information on the mentioned policy initiatives which aim to make the population group between 18 24 years (about 12% of the total) employable and competitive?
   

Reply: Productive employment generation with decent work conditions is an important concern not only for the national employment policy but also for the national agenda of inclusive growth. Active labour market policies are pursued to generate both wage as well as self employment. The major employment generation programmes which are currently in operation in India include: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) and Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY). These programmes have reflected immense potential for generating short term rural wage employment as well as sustainable self employment.

The present demographic dividend can best be harnessed by significantly enhancing levels of skills among workers. It is with this perspective that India has set an overall target of creating 500 million skilled workers by 2022 under the National Skill Development Policy. A three tier institutional structure consisting of Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development, Skill Development Co ordination Board and National Skill Development Corporation has been set up to take forward the skill development agenda.

India's report, page 13, para. 29

The report refers to the National Skill Development Policy which was initiated in 2010 and which sets an ambitious target of equipping nearly 500 million persons with improved skills by 2022 for enabling access to decent employment and ensuring India's competitiveness in a dynamic global labour market.

3. 
   Would it be possible to receive more information about this policy, in particular about the specific initiatives that have already been launched and others that may be in the pipeline?
   

Reply: National Policy on Skill Development aims at increase in productivity of workforce both in the organized and the unorganized sectors, seeking increased participation of youth, women, disabled and other disadvantaged sections and to synergize efforts of various sectors and reform the present system. The National Skill Development Policy has the following vision:

• 
  Skill development should harness inclusivity and reduce economic and social divisions among Indian workforce particularly across rural urban, male female, organized unorganized and traditional/contemporary.
  
• 
  Matching the emerging demands for skills across various industries and economic enterprises.
  
• 
  Evolving National Vocational Qualification Framework comparable with international standards.
  
• 
  Developing standard certification system by recognizing and including quality skills acquired through any informal system of learning.
  
• 
  Greater and more active role for workers' organizations, industry, civil society, Panchayati Raj Institutions and other professional bodies.
  
• 
  Greater reduction of poverty through enhanced earnings of skilled workers.
  

Recent initiatives for skill development:

1. 
   Institutional arrangement: a three tier institutional structure consisting of Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development, Skill Development Co ordination Board and National Skill Development Corporation has been set up to take forward the skill development agenda.
   
2. 
   Upgradation of 1896 Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
   
3. 
   Skill Development Initiative: the SDI will provide short term flexible modular training courses through the Modular Employable Skills (MES) scheme. The courses will be delivered through public private partnership arrangements. The acquiring of skills will be evaluated by official bodies selected by the central government and certified by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT).
   
4. 
   Establishment of ITIs for minorities.