Modi: India is the ‘best destination for global capital’

NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — During his Independence Day speech to the nation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi represented the country’s economy as the world’s most preferred destination for investment and promised to decrease inflation to his target of four percent.

Nearly every global agency has graded India as the No. 1 investment location in the world, this as the country’s economy continues to grow.

“Be it the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or the World Economic Forum, they have all declared India to be the best destination for global capital,” Modi said during his speech. “The government is working with the Reserve Bank of India to bring it [inflation] in the range of four per cent, plus-minus two percentage points.”

The previous government had allowed inflation to spike past the 10 percent mark, and Modi’s efforts have managed to move the figure below six percent, despite two consecutive years of droughts. Recently, the revamping of the Goods and Service Tax, or GST, has been referred to as the most storied tax reform in the history of the nation, and is expected to bring significant benefits to India’s economy.

“GST is also one such tax reform that will help us bring financial stability,” said Modi. “One nation, one grid and one price is what we have worked on.”

Modi also spoke on other areas where the country has seen significant growth — notably financial inclusion through Aadhaar, expanding energy services to the needy, and faster delivery of public services like the issuance of a passport.

The daunting task of financial inclusion was impossible as many have been locked out of mainstream institutions, Modi said. Instead, the prime minister said there is a plan in place to link all government arms with Aadhaar to avoid leakage of benefits.

We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes,” he said.

While it used to take between six and eight months to obtain a passport, it now only takes a couple of weeks. As far as energy goes, the prime minister said his administration and the government are solely focused on renewable energy, specifically solar and wind technology.

To reach electricity to the remote corners of the country, 50,000 km of transmission lines are being installed now as opposed to 30,000-35,000 km earlier, said the prime minister.

“After 60 years of freedom, only 14 crore LPG (cooking gas) connections were added. But we have added more than four crore new connections in just 60 weeks.”

Modi briefly touched on the reinvention of public sector companies Air India, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), and Shipping Corporation of India, all of whom are now operating with positive profit margins.

“Air India was notorious for incurring losses. My government succeeded in bringing Air India back to a situation where it is logging operational profits,” Modi said.