Amid all the hoopla around India emerging as one of the world's fastest growing economies and figuring in the list of the most attractive destinations being eyed by the World Inc, the country has been named as the second least 'globalised' nation.
International consultancy and research firm AT Kearney has ranked India at the 71st position in its annual ranking of the world's most globalised nations, AT Kearney and Foreign Policy Globalisation Index 2007.
The list of 72 countries is topped by Singapore for the third consecutive year, followed by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland in the top five. India fell 10 places from its 61st position in 2006.
The country was placed at the second bottom position last year as well in a list of 62 nations. This year 10 countries have debuted on the index and all of them have come at ranks higher than India.
AT Kearney said that India's low position is despite the country's services export and the total trade rising by more than a third.
"India's standing as a premier offshoring destination with a booming economy often masks the fact that 70 per cent of its population lives in rural areas," the joint report by global consulting firm A T Kearney and US-based magazine Foreign Policy said.
Despite a doubling of Internet users in 2005, only five per cent of India's population had access to the Internet and less than half of its population was attached to the power grid, it noted.
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