Nirmala woos global firms: No better place to invest than India

Washington, October 17

Investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist-respecting environment, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. Sitharaman, speaking at the IMF’s headquarters in Washington DC, assured international investors that the government was continuously working to bring reforms.

“It (India) is one of the fastest growing (economies) even today. It has the best- skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law,” Sitharaman said on Wednesday. Responding to a question on why investors should allocate funds for India, she said though India’s court system is a bit delayed, it’s a transparent and open society where the rule of law works. “So you will not have anything better... democracy loving, capitalist-respecting environment... in India,” Sitharaman said at the event hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in association with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum.

On a question of removing cap on investment in the insurance sector, the FM said the government was “quite open to it”. The FM, however, shied away from giving full assurance and said she would work on the issue.Asserting that there is no trust deficit with the corporate sector and investors, she said there is a greater understanding that this government is willing to hear and also wanting to respond.

To a question on the slowdown, she said the government is taking steps to address problems in the “stressed” sectors. “Even though this year’s Budget was presented in July, the government didn’t wait for the next year’s Budget to announce relief measures of various industries.” — PTI