More reforms in pipeline, no investment proposals held up: FM

Promising more reform measures in  the coming days, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said a lot of public investment is taking place in India and government is trying to ensure the private investment, including from abroad, increases to support economic growth.

Inviting foreign investors to participate in India’s growth story, he assured them of continuing reform process for development of an investment-friendly environment and said there were no more complaints about the investment proposals from abroad being held up. Jaitley said the investors 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”.

“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.

“At the moment there is a lot of public investment taking place in India,” he said, while adding that the country is also expecting increase in the foreign direct investment.

“Also, 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,” he added.

Jaitely also held a meeting with Singapore’s Foreign Minister K Shanmugam and is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong later on Friday.

He held an extensive ‘dialogue session’ with nearly 300 Singapore-based business leaders and investors, including representatives of global entities from Europe and America. Asserting that reforms are an ongoing process, he assured investors that the government will continue to take these measures to make India an attractive investment destination and a better place to do business.

“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 laid. Reforms are an ongoing process,” Jaitley said, adding the legislations that can be taken in the form of the money Bill will be pursued. A money Bill is important as it cannot be blocked by the Rajya Sabha where the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) does not have a majority.

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.”