India attractive destination for investment, has potential for huge returns: Nitin Gadkari

Terming India as an attractive destination for investments, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday urged investors to tap the vast opportunities it offers and get good returns at a time when the whole world is finding an alternative destination for investment in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has initiated a plethora of initiatives towards self-reliance as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi making investment procedure transparent and hassle-free, the road transport, highways and MSMEs minister said.

He was participating in a dialogue with a diaspora of business leaders and CEOs on 'Targeting $5-trillion Atmanirbhar Bharat economy by boosting MSMEs', an event organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The conference was organised as a lead up to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

"We need liquidity in the market. India is an attractive destination for investments. Our MSMEs are doing an excellent job. You can bring your technology to India. You can make joint ventures, you can invest in Indian industry... there is a huge potential. It is a golden opportunity and a win-win situation for both the sides," Gadkari said.

This is an appropriate time for investment in India, the minister said.

He added, "The whole world is not very much interested to deal with China. So, the next alternative available is India. There is the availability of raw material, availability of talented young manpower. Transport, power and communication are already here. We can make all types of products here."

He also emphasised the need to boost exports and added that concerted efforts were being made to transform India into a 5-trillion economy by 2024.

Enunciating various measures taken to boost exports, the minister said Amazon is exporting MSME materials worth Rs 70,000 crore from India to the world.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan also urged the investors to invest in India.

He said there has been been a 13 percent rise in FDI inflows into India in the past five months.

"One estimate suggests that India attracted more than $22 billion FDI during the pandemic. Most of these investments came in through the automatic route," he said.

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Muraleedharan added that the government will be happy to work with potential investors from across the world, including through the National Investment Facilitation Agency.

He said MEA is constantly working to make India's image as a reliable destination for investment so that manufacturing units can shift their base here.

The minister also said the government is committed towards ease of doing business and is working on reforms that include easing registration for property and making tax regime simpler.

"Our development partnership initiatives have been strengthened and expanded. Development assistance in the form of lines of credit (LOCs) is extended by the government to developing countries around the world under the India Development and Economic Assistance scheme," Muraleedharan said.

He added that more than 300 LOCs worth $30.66 billion have been extended to 64 countries in various sectors of socio-economic development.

The projects under the LOCs cover critical infrastructure sectors including transport, railways and roads, power generation, education, and agriculture, he said.

Since LOC projects are to be executed by Indian companies with certain mandatory Indian content, they also contribute towards boosting of Indian goods and services, Muraleedharan added.

In the context of COVID-19, he said India has come to be seen as the pharmacy of the world as it supplied medicines to 150 countries. As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, India's largest vaccine production and delivery capacity will also be used to help the entire humanity, he added.