THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL
Lures investors with promise of more transparent, stable and responsive regulatory regime
PM Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the opening of the industrial fair in Hannover, Germany. Modi renewed his call for industrialists to set up shop in India.
HANNOVER: Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the welcome mat to German investors on Monday as he invited the world to partner with India and promised to make corrections wherever required to make the fastest-growing economy a global manufacturing hub.
He told top German businessmen and industrialists not to go by old perceptions but to come to India and feel the change in the regulatory environment.
“Our re gulatory re gime is much more transparent, responsive and stable. We are taking a long-term and futuristic view on the issues,” he said at the inauguration of the Indo-German Business Summit at the Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair where India is this year’s partner country.
He made an all-out push for his pet campaign, Make in India, which is designed to rewrite the country’s reputation as a tricky place to do business — beset by bureaucracy, corruption and a stringent tax regime.
“Make in India is a need ... We are confident that our journey to make India a global manufacturing hub cannot be stopped that too by our own rules and regulations. We must and will make corrections wherever (they are) required.”
He said the government has taken several steps under his watch to address issues, such as reducing complicated procedures and simplification of forms and formats, which were bothering foreign investors. “We do believe that FDI is important and it will not come to the country without a globally-competitive business environment ... We have removed a lot of regressive taxation regimes.”
India is currently ranked 142nd out of 189 countries in a World Bank “ease of doing business” global league table. Modi had vowed to take India to the top 50 as he wooed investors in Germany, which is the eighth largest foreign direct investor in India, valued at $7.57 billion in 2014. Germany is also India’s largest trading partner in the European Union, with bilateral trade amounting to some 16 billion last year.
Before the summit, he and Ger man chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the India Pavilion at the Hannover fair where Make in India’s logo was visible everywhere.
With a growth rate of 7.44% last year which is expected to rise to above 8% this year, India is now the best performing of the world’s major economies.
MAKE IN INDIA IS A NEED ... WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT OUR JOURNEY TO MAKE INDIA A GLOBAL MANUFACTURING HUB CANNOT BE STOPPED
NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister