Other major deals included Unilever buying out GSK’s consumer business in the country for over INR 31,700 crores, Schneider Electric, TPG Capital, KKR, Softbank, and Alibaba among others.
"We have achieved record FDI inflows last year. We have set a target and are already working on bringing in USD 100 billion FDI (by 2020)," Prabhu said at the Indian Chamber of Commerce event. The minister said the government is conducting a sector analysis for FDI investments and is preparing suitable policies which will help in bringing foreign funds.
"If you remove the hurdles for investments, we can see investments coming in from all sources portfolio, FDI or domestic. In our first three years, we invested INR 2.75 lakh crores in railways as compared to cumulative INR 3 lakh crores in the previous 70 years," he said.
However, Prabhu also mentioned that at par with the economy, India must also welcome human skillset development whereby new inventions in the agro-industry, science, and IT sectors will foster all-round development in manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors through innovation. At the same time, artificial intelligence must embrace the power of human intellectual labour engendering newer start-ups and creating a world-class infrastructure through inter and intra-geographical connectivity among rural and urban sectors.
Whereas Dr Dhanpat Ram Agarwal, Director of Swadeshi Research Institute mentioned that the target of a “New India” entails the target of having a “Rin-mukt” (free of financial burden) India, Dr. Anirban Ganguly, Director of SP Mookherjee Research Foundation praised Prabhu for acting as the “Sherpa of PM Modi” in the latter’s bid to drive a positive change in India.
Swapan Dasgupta, MP of Rajya Sabha mentioned that the fact that a “New India” exists both at a conceptual and at a policy level creates a ground for setting developmental goals higher than what had been its mark set previously. He also mentioned in the past 5 years the quality of Railway services has improved significantly, with a reduction in the number of potholes and crimes. India must never tolerate the concept of small-scale people being inefficient, but being able enough to contribute to the country’s growth. The Swachh Bharat is just a step forward with many more developmental plans to emerge in the next ministerial tenure. “Modi is a political leader with a phenomenal difference, and his commitment for India overrides that of all others,” said Dasgupta.
“On the economic front, in 2014 India was the 9th largest economy in the world. In 2017, India became the 6th largest and in January 2019 it overtook the UK to become the 5th largest economy. We will work together to generate a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025,” remarked Shishir Bajoria. India must invest PPP in the hands of the people, and under the Mudra Scheme INR, 2.8 lakh crores have been disbursed to 5.4 lakh borrowers averaging INR 52,000 per borrower, till date.
“The uniqueness of the person himself will decide the country’s future, as the BJP encourages harnessing talents from all segments of society,” said Bajoria.
With the population growth of India crossing thresholds, more opportunities must arise to economically engage the people. With China having in possession the largest hydro-electric power plant in the world, the largest industry in the world and the highest investment potential in the world, India, and China have a good opportunity for connecting via ties in bilateral trade & commerce.
Engaging people through economic activities and enhanced self-esteem will be more beneficial than getting doles for the smaller & emerging sectors. The villages of India have extreme potential, and the Govt must invest in these areas, at the same time rejuvenating old industries. This is already being complemented by the Central ruling party’s plan to work on the ease of doing business in every district of India and encourage entrepreneurship development. “The number of start-ups has almost doubled in the past 1 year, and the BJP is looking forward to multiplying the effect. India must substitute the ‘money order economy’ with a more inclusive economy,” remarked Prabhu.
West Bengal has a commendable power-house of resources and a friendly approach between the Centre and the States will boost the former’s investment potential.
(DIDHITI GHOSH is the Director of a cultural-exchange radio programme at Radio Satelitevisión y Americavisión, Chile. She is a professor & a certified conference interpreter of the Spanish language and is the Bureau Chief of INDIAN OBSERVER POST based in Kolkata. Contact: didhiti.24@gmail.com).
(Onkareshwar Pandey is Editor in Chief & CEO - Indian Observer Post. He is a former Senior Group Editor- Rashtriya Sahara (Hindi & Urdu) and also former Editor - News, ANI. http://bit.ly/2mh7hih).
THIS STORY ON FACEBOOK - https://bit.ly/2SlmpLA
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK - https://bit.ly/2OacnaL
IOP ON GLOBAL PLATFORM - https://bit.ly/2Y06pyk
IOP TEAM & WRITERS - https://bit.ly/2LxOU2