“At least 95 percent of investments in the country is domestic,” said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia at the conclusion ceremony of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas late on Sunday.

The annual remittances — the money NRIs send to families back home — stood at $55.12 billion in the 2009-10 fiscal, according to the World Bank Factbook 2011 on migration and remittances. As much as a quarter of this sum is sent from the Middle East.

According to the Indian Minister for Overseas Indians Affairs Vyalar Ravi, at the end of the last fiscal year in March, 2010, India had received $27.24 billion worth of foreign direct investment out of which the share of investment made by NRIs was approximately $276 million.

“I think we can get rid of the notion that we are connecting with the NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) because we want investment...we are not reaching out to NRIs because we need money,” Ahluwalia while addressing a gathering of around 1,500 NRIs and Persons of Indian Origins (PIOs).

“If you feel your money is well spent here, you are welcome... If you think in another country you can do better... as an economist I will tell you that is exactly what you should do,” he said. “Those who decide to invest in India would have no reason to be unhappy about their decision 15 to 20 years from now.”

To attract 25 million Indian diaspora, the state government showcased their investor-friendly policy initiatives while identifying education and healthcare as key areas for deeper two-way engagement.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said inclusive growth should be the “mantra” of development process if India has to emerge in the right earnest.

“This decade of Gujarat has been a decade of phenomenal growth. We have not only registered overall double digit GDP growth but our important sectors also have registered double digit growth,” he said.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda described his state as land of opportunities and said it had grown at eight percent even during the worst period of economic meltdown.

Goan Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, among others, also tried to woo investments from NRI and PIOs.

On their part, the NRIs called for urgent change in archaic laws to reassure investors of the safety and security of their investment. Besides, they wanted their property here to be protected from land grabbers. They also raised issues like double taxation for those with business interests in the Gulf, and voting rights for NRIs.

Vyalar Ravi, however, clarified that dual citizenship was only a remote possibilityand that the government was more keen to introduce a single Overseas Citizen India card.

Indian President Pratibha Patil, who presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to 14 overseas Indians, including New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand, Harinderpal Singh Banga (Hong Kong) and Upjit Singh Sachdeva (Liberia), among others, announced while delivering the valedictory address that the next mini-Pravasi Bhartiya Divas would be held in Toronto.

Calling upon NRIs to participate in at least one endeavor for building a better future for disadvantaged sections, she hoped that NRIs would be a vital resource in ensuring inclusive growth.