Dubai: Describing India as one of the best investment destinations in the world, leading industrialist S P Hinduja has called on NRI entrepreneurs to invest in the country as the Government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is focussed on economic growth and rural development.

"The present Indian Government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is focussed on economic growth and on rural development. India is the only ancient civilization in the world today which is also economically successful," Hinduja told a select gathering of NRI businessmen at a function organised by the Indian Professional and Business Council in Dubai last night (Nov 27, 2004).

The overseas Indians, of whom he was one, had done remarkably well and the overseas Indians in the Gulf stood out for their modesty and success which is a model for everyone, he said in his hour-long speech on Investment Opportunities in India with particular emphasis on fall in corruption and reduction in red-tapism in the country in setting up business.

Hinduja, who was in Dubai on a private visit, praised the ingenuity of Indian businessmen all over the world. "Who else but Indians can make money by buying from the Jews and selling to the Scots," he said and called on the NRIs to join hands to invest in India in sectors like power generation and infrastructure.

Terming India as the world's best investment destination after China and the US, he lauded Prime Minister Singh as the architect of Indian economic reforms and said Singh had been instrumental in wiping off India's foreign debts and creating a huge foreign exchange surplus of about $ 120 billion.