Foreign investors buoyed by Indian investment

The Dollar Business Bureau

Investors from all over the world are buoyed by the vibrant investment environment in India, the US India Business Council (USIBC) communicated to the US President Barack Obama in a letter. The country has demonstrated its enhanced willingness to address industry concerns and also balance its domestic interests, it said.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to US next month, the USIBC is looking towards continuing discussions and developments made by India and the US in various matters including innovation, technology, movement of professionals and non-tariff barriers in its future strategic deliberations.

The US and India relations are now at its best due to the persistent efforts of Barack Obama and Narendra Modi, USIBC President Mukesh Aghi said. Modi's next visit to Washington DC in June 7-8, 2016 will be his fourth visit to the country in the past two years. This is a good time to continue the successes of the US-India commercial tie-up and to look for more opportunities in the development of both the nations, he said.

He further said that Modi has not only worked on legislative reforms but also on the micro-level challenges to strengthen the confidence among the investors. India’s tax regime has also improved along with several other initiatives in attracting foreign investments. US and India have recently concluded bilateral advance pricing provisions. This has resolved over 100 transfer pricing issues that were pending for many years. 

The tax reforms announced in the recent budget would lay an excellent foundation in creating lucrative investment environment for investors across the world. Consensus-building is the most challenging in any democracy. The reforms initiated by Indian government have been critical for global investors, who will be continued to be buoyed by the country’s investment landscape, Aghi added.

These reforms have improved the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index specified by the World Bank. India and the US are closely associated than before in several matters related to defence cooperation, security, training and cybersecurity. The US-India Defence Cooperation Act was recently introduced in the US Senate, which elevated India as a significant partner in upholding security in Asia and the world.