(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) This is an unprecedented time to invest in India. There is a decisive government that will put India on a path of economic transformation."
Dubai — India aspires to be among the top 50 global cities in the ease of doing business index said Jayant Sinha Minister of State for Finance.
He was speaking at the inaugural edition of a new speaker series Utkarsh Bharat an initiative co-organised by the PAN IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Alumni Network the Consulate-General of India and Dunia Finance.
“This is an unprecedented time to invest in India. There is a decisive government that will put India on a path of economic transformation. If you look at the global economy the state of the commodity prices and how the world is awash in capital we could not have been at a better cusp for transformation. We are seeing this in economic results: foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio flows to India are rising” said Sinha inviting UAE businesses and investors to generate economic activity and jobs in India.
The Utkarsh Bharat initiative aims at helping UAE-based companies entrepreneurs and investors to better understand India’s economic policies and its investment opportunities.
Identifying the potential to tap investor interest among the 2.6 million Indian diaspora in the UAE Sinha outlined the three pillars of the Narendra Modi government’s economic philosophy. “We are a pro-business government but also pro-poor. Only when businesses flourish in India can we create jobs and deploy more resources to serve the poor. Our tax-to-GDP ratio is 10 per cent. This is the lowest among the G-20” he said.
The government also believes in empowerment not entitlement. “We want to provide opportunities and resources to entrepreneurs” the minister said citing the Mantra Yojana an eco-system is being set up through intermediaries to provide finance to 58 million SMEs in India.
“We believe in minimum government and maximum governance. We need to be a policy-driven state that operates by the rules is stable predictable and rule-based. We need to increase the ease of doing business.”
Currently ranked 142nd in the world in the ease of doing business index India has put in place mechanisms to fight corruption and slash red tape from the system Sinha claimed.
Citing big-ticket reforms in the budget the minister referred to the increase in the devolution of tax revenue to states abolition of wealth tax planned rollout of the goods and services tax or GST by April 1 2016 and cuts in corporate tax. “Right now every state has several taxes that make it difficult for businesses to work efficiently. There isn’t a common market in India. The implementation of GST provides an ability to have a common market.”
Sinha was also confident of taming inflation and India posting non-inflationary sustainable GDP growth rate of seven to eight per cent over the next decade. “The Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan has a mandate to keep inflation within a narrow band. Now you can have faith in the currency” he added.
India is also creating a national investment fund from which Rs1 trillion will be channelled into infrastructure. “The government will provide Rs20000 crore per year for this fund. This can be leveraged up” Sinha added. This will result in massive job opportunities.
Endorsing India’s investment credentials Sinha said: “There are ample opportunities to start businesses and grow them in India or to participate in India’s great growth story through the equity market. Growth will be further bolstered by the drop in oil prices. The UAE until recently was one of India’s most important trading partners. We have had a strong deep-rooted relationship with the UAE. The two governments have to take advantage of these opportunities. We need the diaspora to come back to India.”
Meanwhile Anurag Bhushan Consul-General of India in Dubai praised the reforms undertaken by the government since May 2014. “India is poised to surge towards super-charged growth. Inflows from foreign investors into Indian capital markets was Rs2.7 lakh crore in the last fiscal. Initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ ‘Swach Bharat’ [Clean India] ‘Hriday’ [heritage development] and ‘Prasad’ [development of pilgrim centres into centres of excellence] are commendable.”
He added: “There is $2.6 trillion in the hands of NRIs this is more than India’s annual GDP. We urge NRIs and UAE investors to consider India as an investment destination as the Indian economy looks to further strengthen in coming years.”
Rajeev Kakar managing director and CEO of Dunia Finance said: “The new government has infused so much confidence in the world. With the recent Moody’s upgrade and positive credit outlook it seems things are on track in the Indian economy. New young ministers who have been connected to global finance are coming to take charge of governance and create the right policies.”
—
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.