New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS): Legal services in India have steadily grown in the last five years and the country has become one of the best Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) destinations in the world, the government's annual economic report card says.

The Economic Survey 2012-13 that Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented in parliament showed legal services had grown at 8.2 percent annually from 2005-06 to 2011-12.

The Indian legal profession consists of nearly 1.2 million registered advocates and there are about 950 Law schools. Every year approximately 60,000 to 70,000 law graduates join the legal profession.

India ranked 45 with a score of 4.5 in terms of judicial independence in the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13. This is an improvement from 2011-12 when it was ranked 51.

As regards efficiency in the legal framework in settling disputes, India has moved from 64th position in 2011-12 to 59th in 2012-13.

India is regarded as one of the best LPO destinations on account of the low cost of legal professionals (which is 50-80 percent more cost competitive than the US and Britain, geographical advantage (Indian Time Zone allows it to offer legal services round the clock), language proficiency.

This is also because the LPO industry in the country makes use of advanced means of communication technology, and legal support in the form of research document reviews, drafting of documents, making applications for patents and various para-legal and administrative services.

Also, the Indian legal system is largely inspired by the British and American systems.