India's finance minister Arun Jaitley has assured global investors and told them that the government was taking all the necessary efforts to relieve their concerns on the reforms process, the taxation regime and policy stability.
Jaitley, who is on a 10-day trip to the US, met investors and said while there was “a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz” about India, concerns were being raised about the pace of 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 said.
He said there were certain concerns too. “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 also said there were worries about India’s taxation regime.
Jaitley, who will meet top CEOs and investors and address think-tanks during his visit, said he was 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.”
“Almost by the day, we are getting proposals both through the direct route and also through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board route,” he said.
Jaitley was accompanied by a 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.
