Despite the global economic slowdown, the service sector in India contributed 56 percent to the GDP during 2008-09, according to an expert.

"With innumerable surveys revealing the immense growth prospects in India and the country being projected as one of the high-growth economies in the world, there is an increasing realisation for the need of more professionals and experts in financial planning," Ranjeet S. Mudholkar, principal advisor of the Financial Planning Standards Board India (FPSBI), said here on Friday.

He said that the Indian middle class is adding 40 million new members to economy every year which shows that the wealth is now getting spread more evenly.

The unemployment rate in India had gone down by 2 percent annually during the past few years, indicating a robust Indian economy which even during the recessionary period grew at 6.7 percent during fiscal year 2008-09, he said.

The FPSBI is a public-private enterprise and a standards-setting body for financial planning professionals.