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Wooing foreign direct investment (FDI) is an integral part of the economic strategy not just of the central government, but also of the state governments, Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, said while addressing “Focus India: A Panel Discussion” organised by the European House in Italy (Como) today. Addressing a large European gathering, Shri Kamal Nath explained how India had emerged as an across-the-board low-cost manufacturing base with as many as 100 of the Fortune 500 companies having a presence in India, as against 33 in China. “In FDI we are looking for greenfield investment – investment that creates employment, investment that brings in technology, and not just investment that replaces Indian capital”, he said.
Elaborating on India’s institutional strengths, Shri Kamal Nath said that what was important was that India had an open system with social and political safety valves, and a regulatory environment that provided comfort and long-term stability. He summarised the key challenges facing India into four categories, namely:
Ø Resources Challenge: India will need around $150 billion over the next 10 years to develop her infrastructure – both, urban and rural.
Ø Equity Challenge: Balancing economic growth with social equity. This means taking the fruits of reform well beyond the urban growth centers into the country’s hinterlands, and from the well-off and middle-classes down to the poorest of the poor.
Ø Political Challenge: Sustaining the groundswell for reforms among diverse coalition partners; and
Ø Federal Challenge: Quickening the pace of policy implementation within each India’s 25 States with equal speed.
“It is the satisfactory resolution of these challenges that shape the priorities of our Government”, he said.
SB/MRS
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