Corporate America ready to invest billions of dollars in India

Anticipating major economic reforms in the maiden budget to be presented by the new Indian government, Corporate America has said it is ready to invest billions of dollars in India but the budget must match "pragmatism with unbridled enthusiasm".
Through this budget, the Obama Administration, policy makers, corporate sector and economists in the US are hoping to see a strong sign of a the major economic reforms which were promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign.
At the same time, they are also expecting some tough unpopular measures to be announced, which India watchers in the US believe are necessary to bring the economy back on track and revive the annual growth rate of more than eight per cent.

Corporate America is hoping that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who will present the budget tomorrow, would bring in an era of clarity, predictability and transparency in the system that would help in creating an investment-friendly environment.
US India Business Council (USIBC) sees this budget as an extremely important opportunity for India's administration to begin to meet the high expectations of both Indian and international industry, said USIBC acting president Diane Farrell.
"The global community is ready, with billions of dollars in long-term capital, to increase investment in India," Farrell said.

"Critical policy reforms, including reversing the harmful retrospective tax amendment and passing insurance FDI liberalisation with full voting rights to 49 per cent, will help boost the economy and get the investment climate back on track," Farrell said.

Ron Somers of the India First Group said, "The world will be watching Prime Minister Modi's first budget. To attract a herd of investors rushing to India, this budget, more than others in the past, must match pragmatism with unbridled enthusiasm. This is India's moment."
"In a word, boldness is the need of the hour. The earlier government had shied away from using India's budget to announce 'big bang' reforms, but just such a shock is needed more than ever," Somers said.
Precisely because the world economy is still struggling to recover with dangerous bubbles appearing everywhere that are bound to pop, which is keeping money on the sidelines, India's new budget must be bold and robust and send a clarion signal of dynamic, second-phase reforms, he said.

"Top of the list would be to lift investment caps in insurance and defense in the next Parliamentary session. Clarity on tax policy, adopting all or most of Dr Shome's recommendations, bringing certainty to the fact that taxes will be prospective and not retroactive, will be welcome news," Somers said.