Foreign direct investments into India rose to around $16 billion in the 12 months to 31 March, from $5.5 billion in the previous year, as more investors acknowledged the South Asian country's growing clout in the world wealth industry, a report from the Indian Commerce Ministry reveals.

FDI inflows tripled in the last year after major multi-nationals undertook key investments in the country, including the likes of IBM, Nokia, Suzuki and General Motors. FDIs currently account for 6.8 per cent of the overall investments, up by 0.5 per cent from three years ago. The reported rise still does not include the billions that have been invested into the stock and bond markets by foreign investors.

"The increased flow of FDIs is a direct result of the country's recent economic boom and the increasing liberalisation of regulations that govern offshore investments in the recent years," said Kamal Nath, the Indian Commerce minister, in a statement.  

The industry that got the most inflows was the services sector, which includes both financial and non-financial services, garnering around $6.1 billion. The countries that poured the most investment into India included the Netherlands, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, France and the US.

India, along with Hong Kong, has the most number of millionaires that saw the fastest growth in their wealth level in Asia, according to the latest World Wealth Report by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch. India presently records one in 10,000 individuals with at least 120 crore in their personal coffers. Hong Kong leads in the region with 104.4 per cent more millionaires during the year.