According to Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Coal, India has now become the world’s best place for investments with the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and with most of FDI being placed under the automatic route. The Minister was speaking at the Opening Plenary of the India Economic Summit being organized by the World Economic Forum and CII in New Delhi from October 4-6, 2017.

The Minister stated that the country needs a strong foundation which can only be laid through decades of robust growth. The government is working to change the growth narrative in India to make it more technology driven.

Mr Goyal added that there is need to change the mindset in the country to cut through bureaucracy. This change would require empowering people and creating an enabling environment, he stressed.

Mr. Ajay S. Banga, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard, USA was of the view that many countries that had traditionally led the world in the Post-World War II era had withdrawn from the world stage and it is time for India to step in and fill the void. He noted that India should open up its economy further and improve productivity. The key challenge for India is to create more jobs, he stressed.

Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, stated that India is now leading the world in issues such as climate change. The Paris Accord is a landmark in that regard. He believed that India's growth centers around the 3 “I”s – Internationalisation, Innovation and Inclusiveness.

Ms. Dipali Goenka, Chief Executive Officer and Joint Managing Director, Welspun India highlighted the need for Indian businesses to become agents of change especially in social development. She added that there is need to bring growth to the villages and convert them into “Smart Villages”.

Mr. Karan Johar, Head, Dharma Productions, felt that India was at an “interval” point in its development. Elaborating further, he stated that in films, the plot only got fast after the interval; similarly, India growth was set to grow even faster after this point.

Ms. Malvika Iyer, Member, Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality, United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, stated that the youth of India are living examples of Mahatma Gandhi’s mantra “Be the change you want to see in the world”. She stated that Indian millennials are demanding better quality of products and services as well as better governance through the increased use of social media.

New Delhi

October 5, 2017