Will prepare blueprint for companies looking beyond China: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said she will prepare a blueprint for international companies that are looking beyond China to make India as their preferred investment destination.

She said industry leaders who are contemplating getting their businesses out of China are "definitely considering India as the pitch".

Therefore, she said, it might be important for the government to now see and meet up with a lot of industry leaders and invite them to India.

"I'd certainly be doing that. I will go back and design some way, whereby I will identify those multinational corporations, all American businesses or any other country of European origin, that are moving out of China or who probably are even contemplating [making the move]," she said.

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"I will make a blueprint with which I will approach them and put forward to them as to why India is a far more preferable destination," Sitharaman told a group of Indian reporters on Saturday at the conclusion of her interactions at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

That could also be in specific areas in which India has common capacity ecosystem building, whether it's electronics, lithium ion battery, or any other semiconductors, she added.

However, Sitharaman said the government's decision is not just going to be purely on the basis of what is happening presently between the US and China.

"That could either aggravate the situation or probably just influence at some level. But the fact remains that there are companies which are looking at relocating for various other reasons also," she said.

"That is why I gave that little fine line that I'm drawing about companies which would want to locate elsewhere outside of China. Even as I said that, I said that not every company wants to lock, stock, and barrel get out of China, there are companies which will remain there to service the Chinese market."

She said India wants to create an ecosystem to invite the companies to tap the country's market.

The minister said it is perceived that the opportunities in Vietnam are not that much attractive.

"In fact, today, one of the conversations that I was having with some of the banks and government representatives was that even Vietnam is now probably getting saturated. They don't have enough manpower to address expansionary programmes of investment," she said.

"So, given the fact that we've given concessional taxation approach to corporate incomes, corporate tax having been brought down and the problems that I've just mentioned about Vietnam, there's a higher chance that those companies which are moving out those investments which want to get out to China will certainly look at India," Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman gave a clarion call for "concerted action" in the face of global slowdown.

She also highlighted that the emerging market economies, in particular, face the challenge of achieving economic growth and inclusive development while pursuing sustainable financing.

In this context, she emphasized the importance of countries pursuing structural reform measures to counter the growth slowdown.

She re-emphasised the need for G20 to ensure collective action so as to enable global growth to regain pace.

She led the Indian delegation to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting on October 18 in which the deliberations centred on international taxation and Stablecoins.

On the sidelines of the annual meetings, Sitharaman held several bilateral meetings including with Sajid Javid, Chancellor of Exchequer United Kingdom; Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Development of the United Kingdom; Hong Nam Ki, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea.

She also met with David Malpass, President of the World Bank, Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister of Russia; , Baktygul Jeenbaeva, Finance Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic; Ulei Maurer, Finance Minister of Switzerland; Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg; Ibrahim Ameer, Finance Minister of Maldives; and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore.

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