New Delhi:
Delivering his keynote address at the India Ideas Summit 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said this is the best time to invest in India and US firms must make use of this opportunity for mutual growth of the two countries.
He said every year India is reaching record highs in foreign direct investment (FDI). "Each year is significantly higher than the earlier one. FDI inflows in India in 2019-20 were $74 billion. This is an increase of 20 per cent from the year before that," he said.
During the last six years, we have made many efforts to make our economy more open and reform oriented. Reforms have ensured increased competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitisation, greater innovation and more policy stability," he said.
"When markets are open, when opportunity is high and options are many, can optimism be far behind! You can see the optimism when India rises in key business ratings. Particularly the Ease of Doing Business ratings of the World Bank," PM Modi said in his address.
He said that reforms in many sectors like agriculture, medicine, energy, space, aviation and others have made them attractive destination for investment. FDI limit in sectors like Defence was increased.
"India invites you to invest in finance and insurance. India has raised FDI cap for investment in insurance to 49%. Now 100% FDI is permitted for investment in insurance intermediaries," he said.
He said that reforms in many sectors like agriculture, medicine, energy, space, aviation and others have made them attractive destination for investment. FDI limit in sectors like Defence was increased.
Opportunities in technology also include opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, Big data analytics, Quantum computing, Block-chain and Internet of things:
* India invites you to invest in healthcare. The Healthcare sector in India is growing faster than 22 percent every year. Our companies are also progressing in production of medical-technology, tele-medicine and diagnostics. We also invites you to invest in energy. As India evolves into a gas-based economy, there will be big investment opportunities for US companies. There are also big opportunities in the clean energy sector.
“India invites you to invest in infrastructure. Our nation is witnessing the largest infrastructure creation drive in our history. Come, be a partner in building housing for millions, or building roads, highways and ports in our nation,'' he said.
PM Modi said today India is an emerging destination of new opportunities.
"Let me give you one example of the tech sector. Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It said for the first time ever, there are more rural internet users than even urban internet users. Opportunities in technology also include opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, Big data analytics, Quantum computing, Block-chain and Internet of things," he said.
4) Speaking about the opportunities in the agriculture sector, PM Modi said the country has recently carried out "historic reforms" in this sector. "There are investment opportunities in agricultural