India registered a record Rs 21,286 crore (Rs 212.86 billion) as foreign direct investment during 2002 despite global economic slowdown, the Economic Survey said on Thursday while stressing the need for toning up FDI policies to compete effectively with countries like China.

India succeeded in presenting itself an attractive investment destination due to strong economic fundamentals and its market size while overcomming natural calamities like the Gujarat earthquake and terrorist strikes including the attack on Parliament, it said.

"The ability of the economy to overcome these shocks and attract record FDI inflows point to the increasing attractiveness of India's country-specific attributes in securing FDI, however, other countries are likely to improve policies and institutions in the years to come in order to further increase their FDI inflows."

"Finally, the year 2001 saw the Indian economy grappling with exogenous shocks like the Gujarat earthquake and the terrorist attack on Parliament apart from the calamitous developments of September 11," it said.

The growth trend continued in 2002 with actual FDI inflows up by about 10 per cent to Rs 21,286 crore. However, FDI proposals approved last year declined to less than half to Rs 11,140 crore (Rs 111.4 billion) from Rs 26,875 crore  (Rs 268.75 billion) in 2001 with the Survey attributing this decline to most FDI activities having been put on the automatic route.

PTI