In the decade of economic reform since the 1991 balance of payments crisis, India has removed or at least mitigated some of the major economic distortions that hampered past economic performance. The view of numerous commentators is that this turnaround will ultimately see India following in the footsteps of China and become another economic giant in the global economy.

The country has many positive attributes that have attracted foreign investors to India, namely:

• the principal language of business is English;
• a democratic framework;
• political stability;
• a transparent legal and accounting system;
• the primacy of the rule of law;
• an independent judiciary;
• a free press;
• a strong tradition of entrepreneurship and
• a vast reservoir of knowledge and skills - engineers, geologists, metallurgists, scientists and technicians.

The country is a major producer of iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead-zinc, bauxite, aluminium, coal, lignite, steel, mica, rare earths and barytes. In FY2003-04, the value of all mineral production was US$16 billion. This includes fuel minerals (coal, oil, etc), metallic and non-metallic minerals, of which the latter two categories represent some 20% by value.