SINGAPORE, Sep 18: Promising to make India an attractive investment destination and a better place to do business, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said changes to arbitration laws and several other legislations are in the pipeline while the bankruptcy code is ready to push ahead the reforms process.
Inviting global investors, he said India is no more a nation suffering from policy paralysis and uncertain tax regime and assured them of continuing the reforms for development of the investment-friendly environment.
“The bankruptcy code is ready and changes to arbitration laws and several other legislations are in the pipeline… For the next few years, we have our agenda full, reforms are an ongoing process,” Jaitley said.
The Finance Minister was speaking at a ‘dialogue session’ with nearly 300 Singapore-based business leaders and investors including representatives of global entities from Europe and America on the first leg of his four-day visit to Singapore and Hong Kong.
In an apparent reference to the lack of numbers in Rajya Sabha where the Government is not able to push major bills, he said the legislations which could be taken in the form of Money Bill would be pursued.
He regretted however that the key indirect taxation reform Bill – Goods and Services Tax (GST) – could not be pushed through in the last session of Parliament.
“Investors world over have been quite appreciative of what is happening in India, so they have great hopes of India being an important player in the world economy today,” Jaitley told reporters after the ‘dialogue session’.
“This is particularly because, notwithstanding the slowdown world over, Indian economy is able to maintain a fairly rapid pace. Therefore, the idea is that the economy should continue to grow, and for growth you need investment,” he added.
Jaitley said a lot of public investment is taking place in India and the Government is trying to ensure that private investment, including from abroad, also goes up to support economic growth.
He said that investors from the world over have been quite appreciative of what is happening in India and “they have great hopes of India being an important player in the world economy today”.
Recalling that there was a time when the experts were talking about dropping India from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Jaitley said: “Today, India has become the fastest-growing economy among BRICS.”
Inviting foreign investors to participate in India’s growth story, he said there were no more complaints left about investment proposals from abroad being held up.
“India is no more a nation suffering from policy paralysis and uncertain taxation regime. A host of initiatives by the Government have brought about a positive environment which has built up across the country. Now every state is vying for global investment,” Jaitley said.
Moreover, he added, as a net importer, the country has benefited from declining oil prices in the international market. It has helped contain inflation as well as fiscal deficit, the Minister said.
The Government, Jaitley said, has been trying to address the problems of some of the sectors which are going through a bad phase.
“There have been some stressed sectors. Steel, power and discoms and sectoral interest of these sectors over the last few months have been specifically addressed,” he said.
Referring to the banking sector reforms, he said the Government is recapitalising state-owned banks and professionalising their management.
“Banking sector is another stressed sector in India and we have started recapitalising and professionalising the banking system. The programme we have laid down…Over the next 3-4 years, our banks will be back in shape. It is not a very challenging situation they were passing through… They will get out of that phase,” Jaitley said.
On the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, the minister said it has helped in reducing subsidies and rationalising public expenditure.
The savings on these accounts, Jaitley said, would be used to improve irrigation facilities and infrastructure.
The Government has been focusing on development of highways, which had slowed “terribly”, he added.
“Infrastructure had slowed over the years. Rural roads to the national highway programme have picked up in a big way. Highways had slowed down terribly, but it’s one of the sectors (in which) in the last 12 months, a lot of public resources have been invested. We put in a lot of budgetary support in modernising the railways,” the Minister added.
On the need to increase private sector investment, he said, “As pressures on private sector come down, we are trying to ensure that the private sector investment also increases.
“Now with the increased investment you need to increase the economic activity which leads to further growth of the economy – that the is objective and that is the interaction we have with the investors.” (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel