Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government respects wealth creation and does not shy away from taking tough decisions to improve the business environment as he pitched India as an attractive investment destination which has unbeatable factors of democracy, demography, demand and decisiveness.
Addressing business leaders at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, Modi referred to his re-election in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year with a greater majority and said people had given their judgement that development was their priority.
Modi said his government has shown its business-friendly intent in the first few months of the government and urged investors to join the journey and avail the golden opportunity.
"I want to remind you that our new government has been in power only for three-four months. And I want to state at this forum that this is just beginning. A lot of time is there. In this journey, it is a golden opportunity for the business leaders of the world to partner with India," he said.
"If you want to invest in a market where there is scale, come to India, if you want to invest in a market where the latest trends and features are appreciated, come to India, if you want to invest in start-ups with a huge market, come to India, if you want to invest in one of the world's largest infrastructure ecosystem, come to India," he said.
He said the business leaders present can understand that this mandate he got in favour of development was actually "a declaration of new opportunities".
"In New India we have run a campaign for de-regulation, de-licensing, de-bottlenecking. Due to these reforms, India has been improving its ranks in global rankings," he said.
"Today the people of the country are standing with the government which does not shy away from taking the biggest and toughest decisions. In this election, 130 crore people not only expressed their sentiment but their judgment that development is their priority. Today there is a government in India which respects the business world, wealth creation," he added.
Modi described the government's move to reduce corporate tax as "revolutionary".
"You would know that a few days back we decided to make a heavy reduction in corporate tax. This is a revolutionary step and the people I talked to in the business world, they consider it historic," he said.
Modi said the government has announced a series of steps to boost investment and has repealed old laws which were creating roadblocks in development.
"We are rapidly modernising our cities, equipping them with the latest technology and citizen-friendly infrastructure. Thus if you want to invest in urbanisation, come to India," he said.
Modi said India has opened its defence sector like never before. "If you want to Make in India, for India and for the world, come to India."
"Your desires and our dreams match perfectly, your technology and our talent can change the world, your scale and our skills can speed up global economic growth," he said.
"Your prudent method and our pragmatic mind can write new stories in management, your rational ways and our human values can show the path which the world is looking for. And if there is any gap anywhere; I will personally act as a bridge," he added.
The Prime Minister said the quantitative and qualitative leap in India's growth story is visible on the ground and India has set a big target to turn the country into a five trillion dollar economy.
"We will spend USD 1.3 trillion dollars on modern infrastructure. We will spend lakhs of rupees on boosting social infrastructure."
He said there were four important factors of India's growth story which are difficult to find together in the world. "
"These are democracy, demography, demand and decisiveness. Such political stability has come to India after many decades. When there is democracy, political stability, policies are predictable, judiciary is independent, it gives you confidence about security of investment and of growth," he said.
Noting that growth gets a boost by demographic dividend and a young and energetic talent pool, he said India is among the countries with the largest engineering base and strong research and development facilities.
He said India has the third-largest number of unicorns after the US and China.
Referring to demand factor, he said as India's population is getting economically empowered, purchasing power is rising and so is the demand.
"Apart from democracy, demography and demand, the other thing which makes India distinctive is decisiveness. Despite a diverse and federal democracy, we have stressed on creating seamless, inclusive and transparent systems in the last five years," he said.
The Prime Minister referred to government's steps for tax reforms, banking inclusion and targeted delivery, mobile connectivity and citizens having a unique ID.
"A ten-rank jump in Logistics Performance Index, 13 rank jump in Global Competitive Index, 24 rank improvement in Global Innovation Index and improvement of 65 ranks in Ease of Doing Business are unprecedented," he said.
Modi said India has got $286 billion FDI in the last five years which is half of the FDI inflow in the last 20 years.
He said 90 per cent FDI has come through the automatic route and 40 percent was Greenfield investment. "Today confidence of investor has increased and he is coming to India for a long time," he said.
He said in the Bloomberg Nation Brand Tracker- 2018 India was ranked first in Asia in terms of investment.
"In seven indicators out of 10, political stability, currency stability, high-quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location and respect for IPR, India was number one and had a high rank in other indicators.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
