India pitches for Chinese investments at start-up meet

India today sought investments from Chinese firms in start-ups, projecting the country as an "unrivalled economic opportunity" for them.
Around 20 Indian start-ups and over 100 Chinese investors took part in the "Start-up India" Investment Seminar organised by the Embassy of India here.
Addressing the event, Charge dAffaires of India in China, Amit Narang highlighted the big jump of 30 places achieved by India in one year in the 'Ease of Doing Business Ranking' released by World Bank recently.
He called on Chinese investors to look at India as an unrivalled economic opportunity and urged Indian start-ups to also look eastwards towards China not just for capital, but for innovation and experience-sharing to realise future

Young Indian entrepreneurs heading the start-ups also made a strong pitch for Chinese investments in their fledgling firms.
Speaking on 'Why Invest in India', Benny Chen, CEO, Managing Director India and Global Strategic Alliance, Ant Financial of Alibaba said that he remains bullish on the explosive growth in mobile and internet penetration in India and appraised the various initiatives taken by the Government of India to stimulate faster growth.

During the meet, Mahendra Swarup, president, Start-up India Association spoke about Chinese investments in Indian ventures and introduced the various start-ups from India that participated in the event.
Two panel discussions on 'Strategy for Investing in India- Experience Sharing by Successful Investors' and 'Experience Sharing on the Scaling-Up of Chinese Ventures were organised as part of the event.

Chinese investors including Benny, Shirley Mao, Vice Director, Xiaomi Investment and others took part in the event.
The event is expected to generate more in-depth B2B discussions among Indian start-ups and Chinese investors which will hopefully lead to productive business ventures and Chinese investments in Indian start-ups, a statement said.