By Lalit K JhaWashington, Oct 14 (PTI) India has the potential to growat a reasonably high level in the next decade or two, owing tosome structural changes by the government and a turnaround inthe global economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
The whole environment of doing business has changed in amatter of months, Jaitley told a Washington audience at anevent organised by the US-India Strategic and PartnershipForum.
"India has the potential to grow at a reasonably highlevel in the next one-two decades. This is mainly because ofthe series of structural reforms being carried out by thegovernment, turnaround in the global economy, and the massiveinvestment opportunity that the infrastructure sector offers,"said Jaitley.
"I am certain that now that the growth is returning backto the world, the future holds an important direction as faras India is concerned. The sheer size of the country andeconomy would offer huge opportunity for investment in Indiain the next few years," he said.
Jaitley said that when the BJP government came to powerin 2014, it had the choice to look the other way and allow theshadow economy to continue.
"But it did not do so, as it took a series of courageoussteps which ultimately culminated in demonetisation of high-value currency," the finance minister said.
The government knew that there would be short-term impacton the economy, Jaitley said, "but, in the long term, it wouldbenefit the country," he told a gathering of investors andcorporate leaders.
In an effort to pitch India as an investor-friendlydestination, the finance minister said that his government hadtaken a series of steps to improve the ease of doing business.
"India today is one of the most open, globally integratedeconomy. In the last few years, we are moving up the ease ofdoing business ranking," he said, as he listed out some of thekey initiatives by his government.
Among these are the "massive steps" that the Indiangovernment has taken in using new digital technologies forgovernance and making them beneficial to the people, Jaitleysaid.
"Today, almost everyone is connected to the bankingsystem. Almost every adult in India has biometric. Theintegrated data has helped the government to reach everycitizen on digital platform," he said.
"This has helped us save billions of dollars," he said,adding that India is now using technology "in a big way" inorder to ensure that the resources reaches the intendedpopulation.
Speaking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitleysaid it was "a more efficient system which has brought thecountry together, even economically, allowed free flow ofgoods and services across the country."However, he conceded, that it could cause disruption fora quarter or two.
The event closed a week of meetings that the ministerattended in the US, including the annual meetings of theInternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Members of the USISPF audience included seniorrepresentatives from companies such as Apple, Boeing, Google,etc. while senior officials from different departments of theUS government also participated in the programme.
Mukesh Aghi, president of USISPF, noted the importance ofthe ministerÂ’s visit, saying India had witnessed vast reformsand gained an ability for significant economic growth in thelast few years thereby opening it to huge investmentpotential.
"US companies and investors are very much aware of thereforms the Indian government is making in order to expand theeconomy," he said.
"With future reforms and increased partnership between USand Indian businesses, there is promising potential for thisalready important relationship," he said. PTI LKJ CHT CHT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.