MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday painted a rosy picture of the Indian economy and its workforce before foreign industry leaders to attract them to invest in the country. Stating that this was the best time to invest in India, he said they should make India their centre if they wanted this century to be theirs.
Inaugurating the ‘Make In India Week’ exhitbition at the Bandra-Kurla Complex here, he said it was the best ever brand India had created. Later, the PM addressed a small gathering of investors and bankers at the National Sports Centre of India in Worli, where present werethe Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven, PM of Finland Juha Sipila and deputy PM of Poland Piotr Glinski.
Stating that India’s FDI inflows had gone up by 48 per cent in two years, Modi said, “Today, India is perhaps the most open country for FDI. Most FDI sectors have been put on automatic approval route. In fact, FDI inflow in December 2015 was the highest ever in the country. This is at a time when global FDI has fallen substantially.”
Speaking of infrastructure to aid manufacturing, Modi said electricity production was at its highest in 2015 and that India was on the path to achieving the highest ever coal production this year. He also reiterated his government’s efforts towards making the tax regime transparent, stable and predictable. “We have carried out a number of corrections on the taxation front. We have said that we will not resort to retrospective taxation. And I repeat this commitment once again,” he said.
Modi said the government’s emphasis was on ease of doing business. “In the manufacturing sector, we have taken decisive steps to simplify processes and rationalise provisions. This includes licensing, cross-border trade, security and environmental clearances. We have announced attractive schemes in several sectors, including electronics and textiles.”
Showcasing to the world the opportunities that India offers as a base for manufacturing, design, research and development, he said, “In a year’s time, ‘Make in India’ has become the biggest brand that India has ever created. Both within and outside the country, it has captured the imagination of people, institutions, industries, media and the political leadership.”
The PM also admitted that there was a need to make a number of corrections on the policy front, and listed achievements in this regard, namely the law for fast tracking of arbitration proceedings, dedicated commercial courts and commercial divisions in High Courts, and formation of the Company Law Tribunal. “Soon we shall be putting in place an effective IPR Policy and patent regime. We hope to pass the bankruptcy law, which has been tabled in Parliament,” he added.
The PM also predicted India would end this fiscal year with over seven per cent growth.