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Voice of a Resurgent Nation
10/4/2015 12:39:53 AM
Aman Sinha

Modi's critics have been ridiculing the Prime Minister for his frequent foreign trips, calling him a "NRI Prime Minister". They fail to appreciate that his visits have positioned India as the world's new growth engine
As Prime Min-
ister
Narendra Modi returned home after successfully discharging his national duties at UN summit and sourcing investments from Silicon Valley, he brought a return gift for the country in the form of cheerful news that India had become the top destination for foreign direct investment in the world. With $31 billion foreign capital inflows in the first half of 2015, India has surpassed China, the US and the UK. A Financial Times report stated that India will outshine both China and US in FDI inflows this year as it has outperformed others in economic growth and overpowered the apparent slowdown in emerging markets. It's heartening that India has more than doubled its half-yearly investment levels, attracting $31 billion by the end of June 2015, as compared with $12 billion in the first half of 2014. The achievement this year is particularly significant, considering that 97 of the 154 countries that are known as emerging markets, are experiencing a decline in capital spending this year in greenfield projects.
The NDA Government has truly imbibed the hallmark of its leader and Prime Minister Modi, of converting adversity into opportunity. Amidst the gloom of global slowdown and the Chinese market crash, instead of going on the defensive, the regime called high- level meetings of all stakeholders and experts to deliberate on how to position India as the world's next investment destination.
A closer scrutiny of our macroeconomic numbers gives us reason to be confident. Our fiscal deficit and current account deficit (at just 1.3 per cent of GDP) is at an all-time low. India's foreign exchange reserves are close to $370 billion. Similarly, inflation - wholesale price index and consumer price index - are at an all-time low. Foreign direct investment has increased by 47 per cent this year. Indirect tax collections have gone up by 37 per cent.
We are the only economy to have seven per cent plus gross domestic product growth rate even in the current turbulent global economic scenario, and this is expected to go higher. Unarguably, today we are the strongest and fastest-growing economy. This clearly reflects that Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley's efforts under Mr Modi's leadership have yielded desired results. The Finance Minister has managed the economy astutely and has successfully managed a turnaround in past 16 months. This also signifies that Mr Modi's initiatives, like the Make in India and the Digital India plans, have managed to attract attention. In the coming months, they will generate greater interest among the global investors. Initiatives like the 'Start-up India, Stand up India' and 'Skill India' campaigns are bound to enhance entrepreneurship and innovation, and generate employment for the youth. Financial experts also agree that Mr Modi's foreign visits have triggered a big positive response from investors globally. His charismatic personality and governance model have galvanised the investment story. Global investors have whole-heartedly trusted the Prime Minister's pitch for a new, developed India. It will be good if political adversaries back home also support his vision for a new, modern and developed India.
The NDA Government has in the past 16 months taken several significant measures to improve the ease of doing business and promote investments. Mr Modi has expressed his commitment to improving the ease of doing business by building a congenial atmosphere for investment. Rules and procedures have been simplified and a number of products have been taken off the licensing list.
Mr Jaitley has said that the Make in India initiative aims to achieve the objective by creating an investor-friendly environment, modern and efficient infrastructure, opening of new sectors to FDI and forging partnerships between Government and industry. Significant improvements have been made in regulatory environment through deregulation, delicensing and simplification of procedures. An action plan has been proposed for improvement in the regulatory environment.
The Government intends to provide a robust infrastructure to business through the development of various facilities and institutions. We are aiming to develop industrial corridors and smart cities to provide a conducive working environment with state-of-the-art technology. Efforts are also being made to provide skilled manpower through a national skill development programme.
Moreover, environment clearances can be sought online. All income tax returns can be filed online. Validity of industrial licences has been extended to three years. Paper registers are being replaced by electronic documents. The approval of the head of department is necessary to undertake an inspection.
Hundred per cent under the automatic route has been permitted in construction, operation and maintenance in rail infrastructure projects. FDI policy in the defence sector has been liberalised and the cap has been raised from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. Hundred per cent FDI has been allowed in the defence sector for modern technology on a case-by-case basis. All ministries have adopted a target-specific approach. Each ministry has identified an action plan for the next one year and three years. Twenty five industry related ministries are working on sector-specific targets, which have been identified by them after detailed discussion with various stakeholders in the national workshop held on December 29, 2014. An investor facilitation cell has been created with a dedicated team to guide and assist first-time investors. As many as 231 projects, in sectors such as coal, civil aviation, mines, petroleum, power and roads, were pending resolution of issues at different levels. Out of these, 217 stalled projects have been resolved by the initiative of the NDA Government. In the past two decades, China was the growth engine for the world. However, like many Chinese products, the Chinese engine is getting dated. India has emerged as the new growth engine.
(The writer is a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court, and a spokesperson for the BJP)

(Courtesy: dailypoineer.com)
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