Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has now emerged as a business-friendly destination, more so with the upcoming implementation of the landmark GST beginning next month, while asking CEOs of top US companies to invest in the country.

Modi, during his meeting with the CEOs of top 20 American firms, also said that India attracted the largest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) as a result of the government's policies in the last three years.

In the roundtable interaction with the group that included Tim Cook of Apple, Sunder Pichai from Google, John Chambers from Cisco and Jeff Bezos of Amazon, he spoke about the reforms undertaken by his government, saying they numbered over 7,000, and were aimed at "ease of [doing] business and minimum government, maximum governance."

"Interacted with top CEOs. We held extensive discussions on opportunities in India," Modi tweeted after the meeting that lasted for about 90 minutes.
He said the world is now focused on India's economy, especially in areas such as manufacturing, trade, commerce and people-to-people contact, due to a young population and a rising middle-class.

"The whole world is looking at India. 7,000 reforms alone by GoI for ease of [doing] business and minimum government, maximum governance," Gopal Bagley, spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs quoting the prime minister as saying.

India's growth presents a win-win partnership for the country and the US, and American companies have a great opportunity to contribute to that, Modi told the CEOs. "If America becomes stronger, India will be a natural beneficiary," he said.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Modi said its implementation is a complex task that may well turn out to be "a subject of studies in US business schools."

"This shows India can take big decisions and implement them swiftly," he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out opportunities for tourism through developing hotels in "PPP [public private partnership] model" at 500 railway stations, Baglay said.

Modi said his government has focused on improving the quality of life of the people, and added that working towards this end requires a global partnership.

Therefore, he added, India is working on principles such as 'minimum government, maximum governance', efficiency, transparency, growth and benefit for all.

The CEOs lauded the Prime Minister's initiatives of demonetisation and digitisation of economy and the GST, the spokesman said. The CEOs also expressed support for 'Make in India', 'Digital India', 'Startup India' and other flagship initiatives. - PTI

Source: .khaleej Times