More Liberalisation, Lower Tariff Regime: Economic Reforms To Be Expected From Modi 3.0, DPIIT Secretary Reveals

Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Rajesh Kumar Singh expects India to liberalise further in the third term of the Narendra Modi government.

Here are three highlights from his speech at the annual business summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Saturday (18 May):

1. India's EV policy: Not just Elon Musk's Tesla, but Singh believes that India's new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy will attract many foreign companies.

He also said that two multinational companies have already given commitments to invest in the tyre sector as the government gave some import relaxations for manufacturing in India.

2. FDI liberalisation: Singh said that India can further liberalise the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms in those "pockets that are left" and where there is a scope of liberalisation.

3. Lower tariff regime? Singh asked the industry to remain prepared for a lower tariff regime as India is currently negotiating many Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

He expects India to become less conservative, correct any inversions in tax regime and monitor investment commitments under the India-EFTA trade pact.