Commerce Minister Kamal Nath Friday made a strong pitch for attracting foreign investment to India and said the question chief executives of global firms should ask themselves is "can my company afford not to be in India?"

Addressing a large international audience at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at this Swiss ski resort, Kamal Nath said "should my company go to India?" was no longer the question today before global business leaders.

"On the tourism front it is 'Incredible India' and on the economic front it is 'Opportunity India'," Kamal Nath told the session on "India - Bigger, Better Business Horizons."

Listing India's comparative advantages, Kamal Nath said the country had registered the fastest economic growth among all major democracies in the world at an average expansion of seven percent in gross domestic product.

In terms of purchasing power parity, he said, India was the fourth largest economy and the tenth most industrialised nation by the sheer size of its industrial units.

He also spoke of the rich dividends on offer by investing in India because of its 500-million strong middle class, a large pool of skilled and technical manpower and expertise in IT that made it ideal for business process outsourcing.

"India's prowess lies not just in IT, but also in pharmaceutical research and development, tourism, healthcare, education and a host of other services," he said.

Kamal Nath said there was also a broad political consensus on economic reforms that was reflected in the liberal foreign direct investment policy allowing automatic approval in most sectors.

In this regard, the minister particularly emphasised the policy to attract foreign investment in special economic zones.

These, he said, included 100 percent foreign investment in most manufacturing sectors and development of townships within the zones. External commercial borrowing of up to $500 million per annum was also allowed without maturity restrictions.

Kamal Nath said a legislation on special economic zones aimed at attracting private investment for development of world-class infrastructure, telecom and banking facilities would soon be placed before Parliament.