India 'most attractive destination for FDI', opines Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley opined that India has become the most favourable and attractive destination for the receipt of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), adding that India is the "largest recipient of FDI in the world."

Jaitley, who delivered the Introductory Address at the Investors' Roundtable Meet in Singapore on Wednesday, stated that in order to provide further impetus to the economy, the present Government has implemented a slew of economy reforms in last three years, following which he mentioned the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the recent re-capitalisation package announced for Public Sector Banks (PSBs).

"The recapitalisation package of public sector banks will help to redress the twin balance sheet problem and revive private investment. Key structural reforms implemented by present the government in the recent years, such as Aadhar, Demonetisation and GST have brought transparency and efficiency in governance, and aided the transition from cash to less cash economy. Also, major changes were made in FDI Policy regime, with an aim to make it more liberal and investor friendly," he said.

"Demonetisation has also helped in bringing-out black money by giving identity to anonymous cash. Also, Aadhaar revolution coupled with financial inclusion and its potential applications in transferring of pension, scholarship and government subsidies directly to account of actual beneficiaries under DBT Scheme is transforming the payment landscape in India," added Jaitley.

The Finance Minister, who is currently on a two-day official visit to Singapore visited Singapore Expo, a global event organised by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) attracting over 35,000 fintech participants, showcasing State of the Art developments in Fintech and engaging professionals and policy makers on insightful debates on FinTech. He also visited the India Pavilion set-up by Invest India, along with the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra, which are also participating in Singapore Expo.

Earlier, Jaitley also met key Singapore Officials including Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore and discussed the issues of mutual interest between the two countries. He also held a bilateral meeting with his Singapore counterpart and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and discussed key reforms being implemented by the Government of India, along with measures to increase mutual bilateral investments.

Later, the Finance Minister met the CEO and Senior officials of GIC and discussed investment opportunities across multiple sectors in India including the National Investment and Infrastructure (NIIF). He also chaired meetings with the Chairman, SIA and DBS Group Holdings, CEO of Singapore Airlines, Chairman of Blackstone and President, Singapore Stock Exchange, where multiple issues of mutual interest were discussed. 

-ANI