India is ready for investment: Modi tells overseas businesses

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi utilised a surprise appearance at a high-powered webinar on Thursday to tell the world that India was resolutely battling the pandemic and was prepared for more investments.

Pointing out that the pandemic period had seen India opening up opportunities in the public and the private sector, in core industries as well as the social sector, the Prime Minister called on the US industrialists at the webinar to “come be a part of the journey with us where ease of living is as important as ease of doing business”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opted to deliver the keynote address at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Wednesday after India’s first-quarter GDP growth was estimated at minus 29 per cent.

“Companies are looking for reliability and policy stability. India is the location which has all these qualities. As a result, India is becoming the leading destination for foreign investment. The world believes in us. We have received over $ 20 billion in foreign investment this year. It rose to 20 per cent in 2019 when globally, overseas investments fell by one per cent. This shows the success of our FDI regime,” the PM noted.

In order to emphasise the point that India was safe for business, the Prime Minister recounted the steps taken to shore up the health infrastructure. “The outcome of these efforts was that a country with 1.3 billion people and limited resources had one of the lowest death rates per million in the world and the recovery rate is also steadily rising,” Modi said.

Apart from detailing all business-friendly measures taken so far in a 15-minute speech, the Prime Minister was also keen to underline to the international audience that the country also looked after its poor and maintained social stability despite the loss of earnings due to the lockdown.

“In the past four months, the nation has battled COVID-19 and other natural crises such as floods, two cyclones and a locust attack. But it made people’s resolve stronger. Throughout, the government was clear on one thing: the poor have to be protected. This led to the largest support system seen everywhere globally,” he observed.