Take advantage of golden opportunity, invest in India: Modi tells global business community

Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum here, the Prime Minister said India offers a golden opportunity for investment in the country.

New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited global businesses to invest in India, saying the historic reduction in corporate tax rates by his government creates a golden opportunity and promised more measures to improve the business climate.

Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum here, the Prime Minister said India offers a golden opportunity for investment in the country.

"If you want to invest in a market where there is scale, come to India... If you want to invest in start-ups with a huge market, come to India...If you want to invest in one of the world's largest infrastructure ecosystem, come to India," he told global corporates.

Earlier this month, the government had reduced the effective corporate tax rate to 25.17 per cent from nearly 35 per cent, thus bringing India at par with major global economies on the taxation front.

Modi further told the gathering that India is rapidly modernising its cities and equipping them with the latest technology and citizen-friendly infrastructure.

"Thus if you want to invest in urbanisation, come to India," he said.

He said India has also opened its defence industry "like never before" and sought investments in the sector.

To improve business sentiment, the Modi government in its second term has also repealed 50 laws to improve ease of doing business.

There is a government in India which respects the business world and values wealth creation, he said, adding the government has been taking big and hard decisions to improve the business environment.

"Let me tell you, the new government is only three-four month old. I want to assure that this is only the beginning. Still, there is a long way to go. In this journey, we want to partner with the global business community. This is a golden opportunity for you," Modi said.

India is aiming to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

The Prime Minister said USD 1 trillion has been added to the economy in 5 years and the target is to make the country a USD USD 5 trillion economies.

Modi also said that 120 GW out of 175 GW renewable energy target has been achieved by India and the country was targeting 450 GW in the near future.

He said India received USD 286 billion foreign direct investment in the last five years, which is half of what it got in previous 20 years.

Modi said democracy, political stability, predictable policy, independent judiciary guarantee investment.