PM projects India as investor-friendly at Virtual Global Investor Roundtable
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired the Virtual Global Investor Roundtable 2020, attended by leading institutional investors from the US, Europe, Canada, Korea, Japan, Middle East, Australia, and Singapore. The BJP leader spoke about India's resilience and claimed that even while fighting coronavirus, the country managed to maintain economic stability. He said India offers democracy, demography, demand, and diversity to investors.
Finance Ministry had organized the event
The Ministry of Finance along with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund had organized the VGIR. The participants belonged to the world's largest pension and sovereign wealth funds. As per reports, their total assets under management is nearly $6 trillion. The event revolved around India's economic growth, the structural reforms, and PM Modi's vision of making the country a $5 trillion economy.
Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, other Indian industrialists attended event
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, and financial regulators represented India. Indian industrialists, namely Deepak Parekh (HDFC), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharma), Mukesh Ambani (RIL), Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Ratan Tata (Tata Group), and Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank), spoke about their experience, in a bid to assuage concerns of global investors. The event also gave Indian and global investors an opportunity to interact.
During pandemic, world saw India's national character: PM Modi
On his part, PM Modi told global leaders why they should turn their attention toward India. "Through this year, as India bravely fought global pandemic, the world saw India's national character. The world also saw India's true strengths. It successfully brought out traits that Indians are known for: A sense of responsibility. A spirit of compassion. National unity. The spark of innovation," he said.
"Aatmanirbhar Bharat is a well-planned economic strategy"
PM Modi also mentioned Aatmanirbhar Bharat program, for which he has earmarked Rs. 20 lakh crore. The stimulus was announced months after a nationwide lockdown was imposed. "India's quest to become Aatmanirbhar is not just a vision but a well-planned economic strategy," he said. The idea is to exploit the business capabilities and skills of workers to make India a "global manufacturing powerhouse."
He explained India fits the bill for global investors
"Today, investors are moving toward companies which have a high Environmental, Social & Governance score. India already has systems and companies which rank high on this. India believes in following the path of growth with equal focus on ESG," he added.
Measures taken by his government were talked about
PM Modi asserted the steps his government took would help investors in the long run. He mentioned GST, said the corporate taxes are one of the lowest, and added there is an incentive for new manufacturing setups. He also spoke about the "faceless regime for IT assessment and appeal, new labor laws regime balancing the welfare of workers, and ease of doing business."
Exciting possibilities to partner with farmers open: PM Modi
"Our recent reforms in agriculture open up new exciting possibilities to partner with the farmers of India. With the help of technology and modern processing solutions, India will soon emerge as an agriculture export hub," PM Modi said.
India can give returns with reliability, said PM Modi
He added that there are many start-ups and unicorns in India. "If you want returns with reliability, India is the place to be. If you want demand with democracy, India is the place to be. If you want stability with sustainability, India is the place to be. If you want growth with a green approach, India is the place to be," he told investors.
