Two global reports reflect success of India's FDI policy: Kant

New Delhi: The government expressed satisfaction at two global reports on spurt in FDI and improvement in global competitiveness index, saying that it reflects the success of India's policy initiatives. "This success has been achieved at the point of time when globally FDI has fallen by about 16 per cent. India has seen a huge surge in FDI inflows and this is largely because this government has opened up vast sectors," Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Amitabh Kant said.

He was commenting on two reports released yesterday. In a big jump, India has moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world's most competitive economies, where Switzerland remains on top. Similarly, a Financial Times report has said that with USD 31 billion of foreign capital inflows, India has surpassed China and the US to take the pole position in attracting largest FDI in the first half of 2015. Yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also expressed satisfaction over the reports. "Satisfying, our efforts are paying off. India becomes the highest FDI destination for green field projects," Jaitley said in a tweet.

The government has relaxed FDI norms in sectors, including defence, railways, construction, insurance and medical devices. "Lot of red tapism has been cut. We have made things extremely easy, we have created a sense of competitiveness among states and you will see this competitive spirit among states driving India forward far more vigorously," Kant said. The Secretary expressed hope that due to these initiatives, FDI inflows would further accelerate. "We expect this momentum to further accelerate," he said.

He also expressed confidence that India's ranking would improve in the World Bank's report on ease of doing business. "We are looking at a three year plan... we expect India's position to improve next year and (in) the third year we expect India to come in top 50. I think the major improvement will take place in second and third year," Kant said. India is currently ranked 142nd among 189 nations in the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business 2015' study. With the exception of two parameters (getting credit and protecting minority investors), India does not feature in top 100 in the remaining parameters. Improved ranking will help in attracting both domestic and foreign investments.

On further opening of sectors for FDI, he said the opening up has been pretty radical in the last 15 months. "This will continue. We will make things extremely simple, easy and we expect this momentum to continue and further accelerate," he added. Asked about his recent visit to the US, he said there was a very positive response of corporate America. "India is an oasis of growth in the midst of barren economic landscape. This is the moment India must seize and capture and accelerate its growth and that is what the government is doing," Kant said.