Modi assures foreign Lenders of favourable business Terms

Bengaluru, October 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India is a “bright spot” in global economic slowdown and assured foreign investors of favourable business conditions, including strong intellectual property rights protection. He also said that the government hopes to roll out the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill next year.

Renewing government’s commitment to creating favourable conditions for business and industry, Modi said: “Never before is India so well prepared to absorb talent, technology and investment from outside.” “We have introduced the GST Bill in Parliament; we are hopeful to roll it out in 2016,” Modi said at the Indo-German Summit here, sharing the dais with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

She is on a three-day visit to the country. The GST Bill is facing hurdles in the Opposition-dominated Rajya Sabha despite an aggressive push by the government for its passage. At the Summit attended by the who’s is who of the India Inc, particularly the IT sector, Modi also said India is committed to protecting Intellectual Property Rights of all innovators and entrepreneurs.

 Modi said across the board the validity period of Industrial Licences had been increased and regulatory clearances including security and environmental expedited. “We have taken very decisive steps to remove a number of long-pending concerns of investors,” he said. The government, Modi said, has fast-tracked approvals and clearances for industry as well as the infrastructure sector and is committed to creating favourable conditions for business.

India is sailing in the right direction but could not be complacent, he said, adding that it presented a “bright spot” for investment when the world is facing a slowdown. On Indo-German business ties, Modi said they remain below full the economic potential and India wants to develop relationship with Germany in various sectors.

Merkel said she and Modi would meet again in November at the G-20 summit. She said while India needs high-skilled jobs, Germany requires high-skilled labour. German engineering and India’s IT expertise are fused here in Bengaluru, said Merkel.

The Prime Minister hosted a special lunch for Merkel with leading Indian CEOs at the summit, organised by National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in collaboration with the German Fraunhofer Institute. Earlier, Modi and Merkel visited the facilities of German automotive major Bosch here, as part of the chancellor’s three-day state visit to India, with focus on innovation and skills development.

To further strengthen its presence in India, Bosch said it plans to invest Rs 650 crore (over 100 million euros) in 2015. During the nearly two-hour long visit, the two leaders, accompanied by a high-level German delegation, walked through the Bosch Innovation Center and the vocational training centre, enquiring about the company’s research, engineering, and vocational education activities in India.