India is looking even more attractive to foreign investors as access to bank accounts and benefits becomes more widespread, according to Duncan Lawrie Private Bank.

The UK-based firm calls the ongoing developments in India nothing short of a revolution, and that the process of getting another 400 million Indians into the world’s biggest biometric identity system started this month. The scheme will give them access to financial services and enable them to receive food subsidies and other benefits.

“We already see India as one of the most promising and important of the emerging markets for investors,” says Edward Bland, director and head of research at Duncan Lawrie. “Biometrics will reinforce this belief, because the new system empowers millions of Indians to directly receive subsidies and wages, rather than rely on the shaky distribution infrastructure which is currently in place, and is frequently abused by its providers.

“Once the system is opened up, banks will be better prepared to take deposits and potentially lend money to the wider population,” Bland says. “This has the potential to broaden the capital base of the economy.”

By the end of this year, some 200 million people will already be in the scheme, with the number rising to 600 million in two years’ time - around half of the giant country’s population, according to Duncan Lawrie.

The UK private bank, which opened a refurbished representative office in Tagore Hall, Kolkata, yesterday, is a strong believer in the Indian economy and offers investment in the country via specialist emerging markets funds.

As one of the leading BRIC countries, India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but many investors are worried about the fiscal deficit and the inflation rate, which stood at above 9 per cent in February.