COVID-19: Govt working on several initiatives to attract investors

The government is working on several initiatives, such as preparation of huge land pools, to attract potential investors to India amid the coronavirus-triggered turbulence, a senior official said.

Due to disruptions in the global supply chain on account of the COVID-19 crisis, many foreign companies are looking to reduce their dependency on China and set up manufacturing facilities in other countries.

"We are working on a lot of initiatives. When it comes to land, states prepare their land inventory and we aggregate those and make available to all potential investors," the government official said.

According to Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Saraf, steps like fixing accountability on state and central government officers to perform in a time-bound manner; deemed approval for all licences and permits if not granted well in time; change in land acquisition law; power connection in one month and bank loan sanction within two months can help in attracting overseas firms.

Sharing similar views, President of International Chamber of Commerce Paris-India Vikarmjit Singh Sahney said with stagnant economic activity, production coming to halt and cash flows drying up elsewhere, India should present itself as the most viable destination for global companies looking at other investment destinations.

"Despite reduction of corporate tax rates especially for new manufacturing units, bulk of shifting from China is going to Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Apart from ease of doing business, central and state governments will have to develop industrial parks and corridors on lines of China and ensure consistent policy framework for foreign investors, which is a matter of concern for most of them," Sahney said.

Another official said that multinational firms would not completely leave China and shift base to other countries, but they are looking at alternatives and India could be one the preferred destinations.

The government has taken steps like promoting ease of doing business and liberalisation of the foreign direct investment norms to attract overseas investors.

India has jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking released last year. It figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the third time in a row, mainly due to the successful implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

The country was 77th among 190 countries in the previous ranking.