Anand Sharma, India’s minister for commerce, industry and textile, has spoken out on the importance of the nation’s Foreign Direct Investment policy in multi-brand retail to the nation’s growing economy.
Sharma, who has played a key role in the recent FDI policy announcements made by the government, said the policy carries a message to India’s partners to look at the opportunities offered by India.
“The minimum threshold that we have is US$100 million for any FDI proposal to be considered and half on this investment is for backend infrastructure,” said Sharma.
He said foreign technology and know-how will help India create efficiencies in the integrated value chain in the multi-brand retail sector and add new employment opportunities at both the front and back ends.
Reiterating the significance of the national manufacturing policy as one of the biggest policy initiatives India had taken, the minister said: “It would take the share of manufacturing up from 16 per cent to 25 per cent of GDP and would create 100 million skilled jobs in one decade in India.”
“These would be integrated industrial townships that are not brown-field but green-field. Twelve of these had already been notified, which would not only be transformative but is an investment in the future of the country,” he added.
Building infrastructure remains a key priority for the government and offers a US$1 trillion investment opportunity over the next five years.
India, as a young nation of 1.2 billion people with a median age of 23-24, is aspirational and has the capacity to grow and the ability to engage, he said.
On the future outlook of the Indian economy, Sharma said the fundamentals of the Indian economy remained strong.
It is the national investment rate which has to go up from the current level of 30 – 31 per cent. An increase to 35 – 36 per cent was desirable, which would lead to growth in the GDP and for which the government and the industry would have to work together.
Meanwhile, the deficit in Trade Account has to be addressed by pushing exports, attracting FDI and remaining competitive globally.
“If you and rightfully so, an aspiration to be a major player in the global economic order as there is a rebalancing of the global economy, India has to take the initiatives which are required to meet those objectives and that is what we are trying to do,” he said.
GB
