Michael Johnston submits:

By Jared Cummans

With the advanced economies of the world struggling with rising debt burdens, rising unemployment, and slumping consumer confidence, more and more growth-minded investors have turned their attention to emerging markets in recent years. Thanks to ongoing urbanization and relatively small debt burdens, developing economies have managed to generate positive GDP growth in an environment that has crippled advanced markets. China receives much of the attention, but the rapidly-expanding Indian market has been a welcome addition to many investor portfolios as well over the last year.

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Tom Lydon submits:

By all appearances, India’s economy is firing on all cylinders these days. Although recent performance in its ETFs has been mixed, there’s a lot to like about what the economy has been doing lately.

• Indian stocks climbed so much in the second quarter that they beat out the world’s 20 largest markets. The Sensex is currently on its longest winning streak since at least September 1979, according to Bloomberg, Rajhkumar K Shaaw for BusinessWeek reports.

• Unni Krishnan for BusinessWeek reports that the Indian’s accelerating economy boosted imports of goods and machinery, which in turn added to a widening current-account deficit. This could expand further as the global economy recovers.
  

• Economic News reports that some experts feel India’s economic recovery is much more organic and more sustainable than that of other economies – particularly China’s. As global stimulus efforts begin to fade, the reality of a recovery will become apparent.
  

• Harsh Joshi for The Wall Street Journal reports that India has found a solution to avert a banking crisis: enforce an interest rate below which each bank cannot lend, starting tomorrow. Riskier borrowers pay above this and the banks are not allowed to go below. The goal is ultimately to avoid a repeat of the boom that occurred globally in the housing market.
  

Here are three India ETFs to gain exposure to these trends:

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Equitymaster submits:

Metal stocks continue to feel the heat of a feared Chinese slowdown, as these led the Indian markets lower today. Selling was also seen in stocks from the realty and automobile sectors. On the broader BSE, one stock lost for every one that closed in the positive.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed with losses of around 190 points (1.1%) and 60 points (1.2%) respectively. However, mid and small cap stocks weren’t hit so badly. In fact, while the BSE Midcap index closed down by 0.4%, the BSE Smallcap index closed with marginal gains of around 0.1%.

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Equitymaster submits:

Markets managed to hold on to their gains during the closing hours of trade and thus close the day yet again in the positive. While the BSE Sensex closed higher by around 75 points, NSE Nifty managed to log in a gain of around 25 points. BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices also flourished, ending higher by 0.4% and 0.8% respectively. The breadth was also positive with nearly 3 stocks gaining for every one that declined on the Sensex today.

Most Asian indices also closed in the green today whereas Europe too is displaying a good deal of strength currently. The Indian currency was trading at Rs 46.5 to the dollar at the time of writing

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Gary Gordon submits:

Right now, there are 5 reasonable ways to invest in the potential growth of Indian stock assets. Two are exchange-traded index funds, one is an exchange-traded note, one is a traditional mutual fund and one is a closed-end mutual fund.

The traditional mutual fund, Matthews India Fund (MINDX), comes from one of my favorite no-load families, Matthews Asia Funds. That said, I rarely opt for emerging market mutual funds in large accounts, as the active management of downside risk is best achieved with stop-limit loss orders and/or moving averages. (Note: Take a look at the buy-n-hold risk associated with MINDX.)

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Kevin Grewal submits:

Despite witnessing stellar economic growth over the past two years, rising prices could put a damper on India’s future.

In March 2010, India’s consumer prices rose 14.9 percent when compared to a year ago, marking the largest increase of any G-20 nation. This drastic increase in prices has been led by a surge in food prices which has been brought on by pure supply and demand forces. With a drier than normal monsoon season, an absence of rainfall took its toll on rice, wheat and other crops, decreasing supply. In fact, the Asian nation has seen per capita food grain production drop to levels seen in 1950.

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Equitymaster submits:

Led by buying in stocks from the auto and IT sectors, Indian markets managed to close marginally in the positive today. On the broader BSE, more than one stock gained today for every one that closed in the negative. Among other key Asian markets, China (up 0.3%) and Japan (up 1.8%) led the pack of gainers.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed with gains of around 50 points (0.3%) and 10 points (0.2%) respectively. Mid and small cap stocks followed suit. The BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices closed up by around 0.1% each. The rupee was trading at 46.38 against the US dollar at the time of writing this.

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Equitymaster submits:

After spending most of the morning session crawling around the break even line, markets, with some great help from heavyweights like Reliance and L&T surged ahead in full steam during the second half and managed to close the day strongly in the positive. This is now the seventh consecutive trading session where the markets have closed in the positive. The BSE Sensex closed higher by around 150 points (up 0.8%), whereas NSE Nifty surged in the region of around 40 points (up 0.8%). BSE Midcap and Small cap indices were also in the thick of action, gaining 0.4% and 0.6% respectively.

While Asian stocks have closed mixed today, Europe is trading in the positive currently. The Indian currency was pegged at 46.4 to the dollar at the time of writing.

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Tom Lydon submits:

India is a fast-growing up-and-comer, but the country’s poor infrastructure and political wrangling may be holding back its ETFs. The highways, airways and railways are all outdated and hindering economic efficiency.

Economists calculate that India may achieve long-term annual growth rates of up to 10% if the country heavily invested in transportation, reports Vikas Bijaj for The New York Times. However, the modernization of India’s railways seems to be hampered by politics, with politicians more interested in winning elections than investing for the future.

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David Moenning submits:

Over the past few months, investors have been inundated with analysts posturing about the effects of the European debt crisis. The basic questions that continue to worry investors include: To what extent will the crisis spread? –and– Will it cause a global slowdown? Analysts have voiced their opinions ad nauseam ranging from doom and gloom scenarios to a full global recovery in the short-term. Thus, there doesn’t seem to be consensus on what to expect.

However, since the EU/IMF bailout package makes it highly unlikely that the doomsday theories will unfold; brave investors are once again looking to get their feet wet in global markets. The emerging markets have been a lucrative investment in the past, yet the current European crisis brings some uncertainties that are worth considering before jumping back in. Particularly the question of how the booming Asian economies will be affected and if the emerging markets remain a good play going forward?

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