“Corporate Tax Cuts Just The Beginning, More To Come” - PM Modi Lays Out Red Carpet For Global Investors In New York 

(With Inputs From IANS)

Presenting a progress report of the Indian economy while addressing the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited American businesses to the country.

On the technology and innovation front, the Prime Minister invited the global business community to invest in India, stating that their technology and India's talent pool can together change the world. He also said that their scale combined with India's skill set can accelerate global economic growth.

Pointing to the recent decision by his government to drastically cut corporate tax rates, Modi said from the point of view of catapulting India has an investment destination, this is a revolutionary step. “Whoever I spoke to in the business world after this decision, they said they consider it a historic step," he added.

Modi further described India as an ideal destination for investors, saying that it was a "golden opportunity to partner India".

Pointing out that in the last five years India has attracted $ 286 billion in foreign direct investment and added that this was almost half of the total FDI inflow in the preceding 20 years, Modi also said that almost 90 percent of the FDI inflow in the last five years was through the automatic route.

Modi made a strong pitch for investments in startups, infrastructure, defence and realty sectors. “We are going to invest $1.3 trillion in modern infrastructure in the country. A roadmap for qualitative and quantitative leap in India’s growth story has been identified. We have set a target of making India a $5 trillion economy. To achieve this big target, we have capability, courage and conditions with us," he added.

Calling for investment in India's defence sector, he noted, "We have opened our defence sector like never before. If you want to Make in India, for India and for the world, come to India.

In this regard, the Prime Minister mentioned India's 10-fold jump in the Logistics Performance Index, the 13-point jump in the Global Competitiveness Index, the 24-rank rise in Global Innovation Index, along side the 65-rank improvement in the Ease of Doing Business index calculated by the World Bank.

Modi further noted that the Indian economy has benefited from the climate of political stability in the country.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the Bloomberg National Brand Tracker 2018 survey that recently ranked India as the top performing Asian economy in attracting global investment.

In seven out of 10 indicators of this report, i.e. political stability, currency stability, high quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location and respect for IPRs, India has been ranked at the top position.