File photo: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
San Francisco: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday told Silicon Valley corporate leaders and investors that for growth to gain traction, an increase in private sector investments was imperative, even as he cautioned that the ease of doing business would need constant monitoring and improvement.
At a round table organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the US-India Business Council, Mr Jaitley highlighted the improved economic and investment conditions in India.
Some of the companies around the table included Microsoft, Applied Materials, Amazon, Oracle, Hewitt Packard, Visa, Franklin Templeton, Google, Cisco, First Solar, Aemetis, Ebay, Qualcomm, Blackberry and San Disk.
Alluding to the much stronger economic fundamentals, Mr Jaitley mentioned that the monsoon prediction is improving and with it the prospects of the agriculture sector doing better, which would put the economic growth prospects on an even better footing.
The manufacturing sector had started to do much better after a protracted period of slowdown, he said.
Commenting on demand revival, the Finance Minister mentioned that micro attention was being paid to stalled projects and a pick-up in that area would be helping demand for industrial products.
A benign inflation situation could further allow softening of interest rates, he said.
Touching on some of the challenges, Mr Jaitley mentioned that the ease of doing business would need constant monitoring and improvement and eventually for growth to gain traction it was imperative that private sector investments picked up.
Dr Naushad Forbes, president-designate at CII, emphasised, "India and the US are natural partners owing to common principles of democracy and federalism. India is a noisy and vibrant democracy that has an innovative private sector as its growth engine. India today presents a strong long term growth story while aiming for inclusive and sustainable growth."
Hailing India as the shining star within the developing economies, Mukesh Aghi, president of USIBC, stressed on the positivity surrounding the new Indian government's economic policy that has an underlying social developmental agenda.
Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi stressed, while answering specific questions from US companies, that the government is working to create an organised way to deal with change not just in policy regime but administration as well.
Government efforts are "work in progress" though there is already significant progress on contentious issues like implementing a direct tax regime and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, smoothening taxation disputes, easing land acquisition and labour regulations and so forth, Mr Mehrishi said.
All these incremental but important reforms would cumulatively help cultivate an environment for growth and development, he said.
At a round table organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the US-India Business Council, Mr Jaitley highlighted the improved economic and investment conditions in India.
Some of the companies around the table included Microsoft, Applied Materials, Amazon, Oracle, Hewitt Packard, Visa, Franklin Templeton, Google, Cisco, First Solar, Aemetis, Ebay, Qualcomm, Blackberry and San Disk.
Alluding to the much stronger economic fundamentals, Mr Jaitley mentioned that the monsoon prediction is improving and with it the prospects of the agriculture sector doing better, which would put the economic growth prospects on an even better footing.
The manufacturing sector had started to do much better after a protracted period of slowdown, he said.
Commenting on demand revival, the Finance Minister mentioned that micro attention was being paid to stalled projects and a pick-up in that area would be helping demand for industrial products.
A benign inflation situation could further allow softening of interest rates, he said.
Touching on some of the challenges, Mr Jaitley mentioned that the ease of doing business would need constant monitoring and improvement and eventually for growth to gain traction it was imperative that private sector investments picked up.
Dr Naushad Forbes, president-designate at CII, emphasised, "India and the US are natural partners owing to common principles of democracy and federalism. India is a noisy and vibrant democracy that has an innovative private sector as its growth engine. India today presents a strong long term growth story while aiming for inclusive and sustainable growth."
Hailing India as the shining star within the developing economies, Mukesh Aghi, president of USIBC, stressed on the positivity surrounding the new Indian government's economic policy that has an underlying social developmental agenda.
Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi stressed, while answering specific questions from US companies, that the government is working to create an organised way to deal with change not just in policy regime but administration as well.
Government efforts are "work in progress" though there is already significant progress on contentious issues like implementing a direct tax regime and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, smoothening taxation disputes, easing land acquisition and labour regulations and so forth, Mr Mehrishi said.
All these incremental but important reforms would cumulatively help cultivate an environment for growth and development, he said.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
