New Delhi, Nov 17 Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday said that the country would be able to attract 50 billion dollars Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) annually from 2012.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the state industries ministers meeting in the national capital, Sharma said that the Government is creating an investor friendly environment to attract more FDI.

"We are creating the investor friendly environment bringing about a greater degree of uniformity, predictability and rationalization across the country. We hope that we will be able to attract 50 billion dollars annually," Sharma said.

"India is a big country, it can absorb that and let us not forget that the projections of the next one decade for Indian infrastructure alone, is absorbing investments of one and a half trillion dollars. So, what I have said are very conservative numbers," he added.

Sharma further said that in order to take the growth to double digits, more FDI is required.

"I am talking of 2012, if we have to take a growth to double digit, if we have to meet our objectives, we need to attract more FDI," he added.

Between April and September, the first half of the 2009/10 fiscal year, FDI was in excess of 15 billion dollars and portfolio investments were almost the same.

The influx of foreign funds is also pushing up the rupee. The Reserve Bank of India has said if it raised interest rates ahead of other central banks, that there was a risk that it could attract more inflows and complicate policymaking.

India's economy expanded by 6.7 percent in 2008-09, after growing at 9 percent or more in the previous three years. And, it also remains an attractive destination for foreign investments.

As per the World Bank's reports, the returns on investment made in India are the highest in the world. (ANI)