Delhi bags 1280 of total 2069 foreign companies

New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) Delhi is the preferred destination for foreign companies setting up base in India.

The national capital tops the list having the maximum number -- 1280 -- that is more than half of the 2,069 foreign companies incorporated outside India which have established their business presence in the country.

Placed second was Maharashtra with 361 foreign firms and not surprisingly, Karnataka was in the third spot with 159 foreign companies, according to sources in the Ministry of Company Affairs.

A total of 1,840 foreign companies were operating in the country till March 31, 2005, the sources said.

Winds of change can be perceived with Tamil Nadu emerging as a popular base with 75 foreign companies located there. And West Bengal, where the East India company first set root, attracted only 62 firms to set up shop.

Haryana, due to its strategic location next to Delhi, benefitted by having 57 companies succumb to its lure.

Andhra Pradesh was the third southern state to get 26 companies to set up base.

Among the other states, Gujarat which has always projected itself as pro-investment, drew 15 -- just one more than Uttar Pradesh which found 14 foreign takers for its industrial climate. Among the also-rans were Kerala with seven while mineral-rich Orissa and Madhya Pradesh got five and three respectively. Possibly due to lack of infrastructure, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry had to content themselves with just one each.

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