Modi govt's failure to bury tax terrorism left foreign investors cold

The niggling suspicion of global investors that they could lose billions to policy fickleness is far from allayed

Exit polls are pointing to another term for Narendra Modi in India, but don’t expect overseas investors to be as pumped up by his victory as they were five years ago. Before he offers any new promises, they would like the prime minister to fulfill his pledge to make the tax system less capricious.

In its 2014 election manifesto, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the then Congress Party-led government for unleashing “tax terrorism and uncertainty,” which it argued, “not only creates anxiety among the business class and negatively impacts the investment climate, but also dents the image of the country.”