PM Modi pitches for Investments, Says 'Never Been Better Time to Invest': Key Points-

New Delhi, July 23: Pitching in for India's rise in global integration with increasing openness and "the nation that the world can trust", Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the US investors on Wednesday that there has "never been a better time to invest in India" in his address at the India Ideas Summit.

 

 

 

In his address at the Summit that is being hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), he congratulated USIBC on its 45th anniversary this year. He also thanked the USIBC leadership for their commitment to advancing India-US economic partnership with the theme being for this year’s Summit is ‘Building a Better Future’.

 

 

Prime Minister said that India has what is needed to power the global economic recovery. "The rise of India means: a rise in trade opportunities with a nation that you can trust, a rise in global integration with increasing openness, a rise in your competitiveness with access to a market which offers scale. And a rise your returns on investment with the availability of skilled human resources," he said.

 

 

 

 

Calling the USA and India as natural partners, he said this partnership can play an important role in helping the world bounce back faster after the pandemic. Reaching out to the American investors, he said that there has never been a better time to invest in India.

 

Prime Minister said, "Investment is the best show of confidence. Every year, we are reaching record highs in FDI. Each year is significantly higher than the earlier one. FDI inflows in India in 2019-20 were 74 billion dollars. This is an increase of 20 percent from the year before that. Friends in USIBC inform that ‘pledged investment’ from the US has already crossed 40 billion dollars this year! Also, see what has happened even during the ongoing pandemic. In the middle of COVID, India has attracted foreign investment of more than 20 billion dollars between April and July 2020. 

 

 

Showcasing opportunities in the frontier technology of 5G for US investors, he gave an example. He said,"India is emerging as a land of opportunities. Let me give you one example of the tech sector. Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It said for the first time ever, there are more rural internet users than even urban internet users. Imagine the scale! There are about half a billion active internet users in India now. Half a billion connected people. Does this sound huge to you? Hold your breath. Because there are over half a billion more people who are being connected. Opportunities in technology also include opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, Big data analytics, Quantum computing, Block-chain, and the Internet of things.

 

 

Emphasizing that India is contributing towards a prosperous and resilient world, he batted for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. PM Modi said, "Global economic resilience can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities. This means improved domestic capacity for manufacturing, restoring the health of the financial system, and diversification of international trade. India is contributing towards a prosperous and resilient world through the clarion call of an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. And, for that, we await your partnership!"

 

 

 

 

Prime Minister said, "There is global optimism towards India. This is because India offers a perfect combination of openness, opportunities and options. Let me elaborate. India celebrates openness in people and in governance. Open minds make open markets. Open markets lead to greater prosperity. These are principles on which both India and the USA agree." He noted that in the last six years, efforts have been undertaken to make our economy more open and reform-oriented, adding that reforms have ensured competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitization, greater innovation and more policy stability.

 

 

Prime Minister highlighted that there are several opportunities to invest in a variety of sectors in India. Speaking about the historic reforms recently undertaken in the agriculture sector, he said, "There are investment opportunities in Agricultural inputs and machinery, Agriculture supply chain management, Ready-to-eat items, Fisheries, and Organic produce. India's food processing sector is expected to be worth over half a trillion dollars by 2025."

 

Noting that the healthcare sector in India is growing faster than 22% every year and the progress of Indian companies in the production of medical-technology, telemedicine and diagnostics, he said that now is the best time to expand investment in the Indian healthcare sector.

 

Prime Minister listed several other sectors which offer tremendous opportunities to invest, viz. the energy sector; infrastructure creation including building houses, roads, highways, and ports; civil aviation, wherein top private Indian airlines plan to include over a thousand new aircraft over the coming decade, thus opening up the opportunity for any investor who chooses to set up manufacturing facilities in India, and also through setting up of Maintenance Repair and Operations facilities.

 

 

Mentioned that India is raising the FDI cap for investment in defence sector to 74%, he said two defence corridors have been established to encourage production of defense equipment and platforms. He added that special incentives are offered for private and foreign investors. He also mentioned path-breaking reforms being undertaken in the space sector.

 

Inviting investment in finance and insurance, Prime Minister said that India has raised the FDI cap for investment in insurance to 49%, and 100% FDI is permitted for investment in insurance intermediaries. He noted that there are large untapped opportunities for increasing insurance cover in health, agriculture, business, and life insurance. He talked about India’s rise in Ease of Doing Business rankings of the World Bank.