Showcasing India as the most attractive investment destination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday promised a predictable and transparent taxation regime, simplified licensing and clearance processes.
launching the mega manufacturing summit 'Make in India' week in the presence of heads of state and business leaders, Modi said this was the best time to invest in India as the Government was determined to carry forward reforms including setting up of a company law tribunal and an effective IPR regime.
"I have been saying that this century is Asia's century. Make India your center if you want this century to be your century. I invite everyone to be part of India's unfolding success story," Modi said.
In his 25-minute speech at the National Sports Club ground at Worli, Modi said, "This is the best time ever to be in India. And it is even better to Make in India".
Modi also had a word of advice for Indian industrialists. "Don't wait. Don't Relax. There are immense opportunities. You should take advantage of the renewed interest of global players to work in India. Many of them are looking for technological and financial collaborations here.... If you take one step, we will walk two steps for you," he said.
Alluding to course corrections on taxation front, Modi said: "We will not resort to retrospective taxation. We are swiftly working towards making our tax regime transparent, stable and predictable".
Averring that India was blessed with three Ds — Democracy, Demography and Demand, Modi said, "To this, we have added the fourth D that is Deregulation. Today's India is this four-dimensional India."
He said campaigns like Digital India and Skill India had been designed to prepare people to participate in this process.
The Make in India week got off to a flying start with Maharashtra signing three key MoUs, involving an investment of more than `21,400 crore, in the PM's presence.
Modi also held bilateral talks with PMs of Sweden, Finland and Deputy PM of Poland. Modi lauded Sweden's significant participation in the "Make in India" initiative and invited Swedish companies to forge partnerships in fields of Defence, electronic goods and medical equipment.
Interacting with Finnish PM Juha Sipila, Modi sought active participation in engineering, power plants, biotechnology and innovation. The two PMs tele-inaugurated the new state-of-the-art manufacturing unit of Trivitron Healthcare in Chennai.
Recalling Gujarat's long association with Poland, Modi discussed cooperation in food processing, clean energy and transportation sectors with Deputy PM Piotr Glinski.
Modi marketed India as the "fastest-growing large economy in the world". "We will end this fiscal with over seven per cent GDP growth. The IMF, World Bank, OECD, ADB and other institutions have projected even better future growth. In 2014-15, India contributed 12.5 per cent to global growth. Its contribution to global growth is 68 per cent higher than its share of the world economy,” he said.
"India has consistently been ranked as most attractive investment destination by several global agencies. We have jumped 12 ranks in latest global ranking by the World Bank on ease of doing business. India has improved its UNCTAD ranking of investment attractiveness, from 15th to 9th. India has jumped 16 places on the World Economic Forum's global competitive index," the PM said.
Highlighting initiatives of his Government towards making India a global manufacturing hub, Modi said, "In a year's time, Make in India has become the biggest brands that India has ever created. Both within and outside the country, it has captured the imagination of people, institutions, industries, media and political leadership."
"When we started the Make in India campaign, manufacturing growth in the country was 1.7 per cent. In the current quarter, manufacturing growth is expected be around 12.6 per cent," he said.
Modi said investment proposals in the last eight months had gone up to 27 per cent and India had recorded the highest-ever production of motor vehicles in 2015, electronic manufacturing has grown six-fold to 18 million and 159 Electronic System Design and Manufacturing units, were established.
He added, "Today, India is perhaps the most open country for FDI as most sectors have been put on automatic approval route. FDI inflows have gone up by 48 per cent and inflow in December, 2015 was the highest-ever, at a time, when global FDI has fallen substantially."
Stressing on ease of doing business", he said: "In the manufacturing sector, we have taken decisive steps to simplify processes and rationalize provisions. This includes licensing, cross-border trade, security and environmental clearances."
Pointing to "substantial policy corrections" in Defence sector he pointed to, "licensing to offset regime and export regime."
On safety of properties and rights, he said, "We have already enacted a law for fast tracking arbitration proceedings. We are establishing dedicated Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions in High Courts."
"Soon we shall be putting in place an effective IPR Policy and patent regime. We hope to pass the bankruptcy law soon in Parliament," he said.
"We are investing in social, industrial and agricultural infrastructure to give better income and quality of life. India's highest ever kilometers of new highway contracts awarded was in 2015. Fifty of our cities are ready for setting up Metro Rail Systems. We have to built fifty million houses."
"We want a quantum jump in a greener way. As per our commitment at the recent COP-21 meeting, we are going for renewable energy in a big way, 175 gigawatts," he said.