Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured global investors that the Narendra Modi government is making all efforts to allay their concerns on the reforms process, the taxation regime and policy stability.
Jaitley, who began a 10-day trip to the US on Wednesday, met investors here and said while there is “a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz” about India, concerns are being raised about the pace of the reform process and policy stability.
“I clearly see two kinds of reactions. The predominant reaction is that there is a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz about India. There is a lot of sense of satisfaction with regard to how the reform process has panned out in the last one year.
“Investors are certainly looking at India to make large investments,” Jaitley told PTI after visiting the New York Stock Exchange.
Addressing concerns
At the same time, there are concerns about India in the minds of investors, said the Finance Minister. “Concerns that the process of reforms must be expedited… which we are trying to do. Concern over the stability of policy, which has been assured because the government’s movement is in one direction,” he said.
He said there are also worries about India’s taxation regime.
Jaitley, who will meet top CEOs and investors and address think-tanks during his visit, said he is in the US “really to be in dialogue with a larger body of investors because the more the investment into India, the more it will help us in our growth. Our growth helps us in removing poverty in India and, I think, it is a very positive reaction as far as the investors are concerned.”
He pointed out that the last year was fairly good with the foreign direct investment (FDI) going up by 39 per cent.
“Almost by the day, we are getting proposals both through the direct route and also through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route,” he said.
He cited the example of the about 350 requests to the FIPB in one year which is “almost one a day” and hoped that it will increase this year. Jaitley refused to comment on the Lalit Modi controversy.
Rings bell at NYSE
Accompanied by India’s Ambassador to the US Arun Kumar Singh and Consul-General Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Jaitley rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Before that he went around the trading floor of the world’s largest stock exchange.
Jaitley is accompanied by a high-level business delegation that includes Ambuja Neotia Group Chairman Harshavardhan Neotia; Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar Kanwar; Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Rajan Bharti Mittal; and Bharat Hotels Chairperson and Managing Director Jyotsna Suri.