Govt removing dead wood to push up investment: Nirmala

The government is doing the "unglamorous work of removing dead wood" to streamline procedures and policies to promote domestic and foreign investments and push growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said.
She said the government is removing obstructions and addressing issues to make the country an investor-friendly destination.
Sitharaman was speaking at India Economic Convention organised by India Foundation in association with the International Chamber of Commerce and Ficci.
"We are doing all the unglamorous work at the moment," she said, adding that "we are addressing all the issues which have made this country not an investors' destination".

On the Make in India campaign, she said the Prime Minister's Office is directly monitoring it.
She predicted that in the next 10 years, India will become a major manufacturing hub.

"We will be talking about manufacturing hub with democracy and rule of law in place," she added.
The government is working on several fronts such as skill development, improving road, rail and port infrastructure, developing industrial and freight corridors and focusing on power generation and distribution, the Minister said.
She added that along with attracting foreign direct investment, the government is focusing on pushing up domestic investments.
"... So while my desire is to attract FDI, I also want domestic investments," Sitharaman stressed.

She said domestic companies had started investing in other countries due to issues related to energy, capital and taxation.
The government has announced several steps to improve ease of doing business in the country which include having a timeline for clearance of applications, de-licensing the manufacturing of many defence products and introduction of e-Biz project for single-window clearance.