Make in India Week: PM Narendra Modi promises stable tax regime, more reforms

Mumbai: Promising stable and predictable tax regime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said this was the best time to invest in India as the government carries reforms including setting up a company law tribunal and effective IPR regime.

"We have carried out a number of corrections on the taxation front. We have said that we will not resort to retrospective taxation. And I repeat this commitment once again. We are also swiftly working towards making our tax regime transparent, stable and predictable," he said at the 'Make in India' week here.

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Detailing the initiatives of government to boost manufacturing, he said steps have been taken to simplify processes and rationalise provisions regarding licences, security and environment clearances.

"I have been saying that this century is Asia's century. My advice to you is to Make India your center; if you want this century to be your century. I invite everyone sitting here and also those not here, to be a part of India's unfolding story," he said.

Modi said that India is probably the most open country for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which has increased by 48 percent since the BJP government came to power in May 2014.

He further said that results of the initiatives were manifesting themselves as India has become the fastest growing large economy in the world.

The growth in India would be well above 7 percent, he said, adding leading institutions like IMF, World Bank, ADB and OECD have projected a better growth in the coming years.

Listing the investment opportunities, Modi said that metro rail network is being set up in 50 cities and government is engaged in developing infrastructure in a big way in areas like roads, ports and rail.

"With this background, I invite and encourage you to make India your work place; and also your home. With this background, I invite and encourage you to make India your work place; and also your home," he added.

On the issue of safety of properties and rights, Modi said: "We have already enacted a law for fast-tracking of arbitration proceedings. We are establishing dedicated commercial courts and commercial divisions in high courts. The formation of the Company Law Tribunal is at the final stage."

The government, the Prime Minister said, will soon be putting in place an effective IPR policy and patent regime and expects to pass the bankruptcy law, which has been tabled in Parliament.

"Hence, on the front of policy and procedure, we have made our systems cleaner, simpler, pro-active and business-friendly," he added.

Modi reiterated his government's commitment to making India an easy place to do business, saying "we want to present to the world the enormous opportunities that India offers as a base for manufacturing, design, research and development".

In a year, he said, Make in India has become the biggest brand India has ever created.

"Today, India is perhaps the most open country for FDI. Most of the FDI sectors have been put on automatic approval route. Our FDI inflows have gone up by 48 percent since the day my government came to office.

"In fact, FDI inflow in December 2015 was the highest ever in this country. This is at a time when global FDI has fallen substantially," the Prime Minister said.

According to Modi, the all-round emphasis is on ease of doing business.

"We have announced attractive schemes in several sectors, including electronics and textiles. We have made substantial policy corrections in the defence sector. From licensing to offset regime and export regime, we have given what the defence industry was looking for," he said.

Modi was confident that this year India will record the highest-ever coal production.

"I believe in minimum government and maximum governance. Therefore, almost on a daily basis, we are trying to remove the bottlenecks that were affecting investments and growth," Modi said.

The Prime Minister also said the government is investing in social, industrial and agricultural infrastructure to provide better income and quality of life to people.

"So far, it was our implementation capacity that was the biggest bottleneck. We have speeded up processes. The result is faster turnaround of projects," Modi said, adding that to step up financing, "we are trying innovative ways. We are opening up our greenfield and brownfield projects for public-private partnership. With strong fiscal discipline and by plugging leakages, we are trying to provide more resources for infrastructure".

India has also set up the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and has come up with the mechanism of tax-free infrastructure bonds for projects in rail, road and irrigation sectors.

"We are working with a number of countries, financial markets and funds on these financial instruments," he said.

"India is a land of immense opportunities. Fifty of our cities are ready to set up Metro Rail Systems. We have to build fifty million houses. The requirement of road, rail and waterways is enormous. There is no time for incremental changes. We want a quantum jump," he added.

The government, has also decided to do this in "a cleaner and greener way".

Further, he said the domestic industry and investors are feeling much more confident and optimistic in spite of an uncertain global situation.

"When we started the Make in India campaign, manufacturing growth in the country was 1.7 percent. This year, it has improved substantially. In the current quarter, manufacturing growth is expected to be around 12.6 percent," Modi said.

"There are immense opportunities in India. You should take advantage of the renewed interest of global players to work in India. Many of them are looking for technological and financial collaborations with Indian partners... I assure you that if you take one step, we will walk two steps for you," the Prime Minister said.