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New Delhi : The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on January 12, 2019, said that a steady growth rate of almost 7% coupled with a series of reforms made India the most favourite destination for investments in the world. Naidu said that it was the right time for foreign investors to tap the huge potential offered by India in various sectors from real estate to healthcare.
Addressing the inaugural session of Partnership CII’s Summit in Mumbai, Naidu said that government’s initiatives and reforms helped India achieve 11th rank in the Global FDI confidence index 2018. Referring to a report by UBS, he said that the annual FDI inflows would rise to $ 75 billion over the next five year and added India with its growth momentum would soon become $5 trillion economy.
With an aim to showcase a New India, the Summit has been being organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Maharashtra Government, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CCI). Over 1,000 delegates from 40 countries converged in Mumbai to attend the 25th edition of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII’s) Partnership Summit based on the theme, New India: Rising to Global Occasions. Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu were present on the occasion.
Describing India as a bright spot in the world economy, Naidu quoting the World Bank’s latest forecast said India would continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the world. It said the GDP is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent this fiscal year and at 7.5 per cent in the following two years, Naidu said.
Naidu said that the robustness of India’s institutions, resilience of its policy frameworks, the reforms initiated by the government and the responsiveness of Industry bodies such as CII have insulated its economy from stagnation and helped in achieving the dual distinction of being a stable democracy and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Lauding the efforts of government and its agenda of reform processes for the betterment of administration, Naidu said that such reforms were the need of the hour and would continue.
The Vice President also appreciated the healthy competition among various states to attract investors and promote industrialisation. He urged the state governments to promote similar competitiveness among districts to realise rural India’s full potential.
Referring to the construction of airports under Public-Private Partnership model in Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, Naidu said that it was the way forward for effective implementation of infrastructure projects.
Urging the industry to supplement the efforts of the governments in improving lives of people living in villages, Naidu observed that the increasing internet penetration in rural India provides a great opportunity to improve rural India. Connecting all Gram Panchayats with optical fibre network under the BharatNet project by March 2019 would transform rural India by enabling access to digital transactions and online sales of products including agri produce via e-Nam.
The Vice President called for a special focus on Agriculture and said farmers must be trained and educated on diversification of crops, Zero Budget Farming, investing in allied activities like fisheries, horticulture and others to make the sector more inclusive, profitable and sustainable, according to a PIB release.