Pranab Mukherjee woos global investors

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday called on foreign investors to be a part of India?s nine-percent growth saying the government had taken a number of steps to simplify the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime.

Addressing the seventh Annual India Investment Forum here, Mukherjee said since early last year both ownership and control have been recognised as central to the FDI policy, and methodology for calculation of indirect foreign investment in Indian companies has been clearly defined.

He said a consistent policy on downstream investment has also been formulated.

The minister also spoke about the widening prospects of private players in infrastructure investment saying it was essential to source more and more funds from the private sector, in order to sustain the high growth in infrastructure spending.

?Accordingly, our Government has laid great emphasis on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) which combine the efficiency and technological prowess of the private sector, with the public welfare orientation of Government,? he said.

?Nearly 30 per cent of the total spending on infrastructure sector, during the first 3 years of the XI Plan period, has come from private sources. As we go into the next Plan period, we expect this proportion to go up to nearly 50 per cent,? he added.

Mukherjee said after successfully managing the effects of the global slowdown, the Indian government has taking serious measures to improve the investment environment in the country and had moved on to strengthen the domestic macroeconomic environment.

?The policy focus in the past few months has been on effecting a calibrated withdrawal of the stimulus imparted to the economy and a determined attempt to move towards the preferred path of fiscal consolidation over the coming years,? he said.

Speaking of possibilities in the banking sector, he said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was considering giving additional banking licenses to private sector players, with a view to further diversifying the Indian banking scenario and environment.