Come To India, If There's Any Gap I'll Act As Bridge: PM Modi At Global Business Forum

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday presented a report card of the country's progress in the five years under him and invited the US industry to come and invest in India. Portraying the country as an ideal destination for investors, he said it was a "golden opportunity to partner India".

"Your desires, and our dreams, match. Your technology and our talent can change the world. Your scale and our skill can speed up global economic growth... If there is any gap, I will act as a bridge," he said in his address to the Bloomberg Global Business Forum.

Foreign Direct Investment is vital now to prop up the sluggish economy. It is also important if the Prime Minister's goal of pushing the economy to 5 trillion dollars in the next five years is to be achieved.

Since returning to power, the government has pushed several measures to streamline investment procedures and boost manufacture. These include easing rules like 30 per cent sourcing from India for single brand retailers and legalisation of contract manufacturing to allow 100 per cent investment.

The government also met a longstanding demand of corporates by giving huge tax cuts. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it would "attract fresh investment in manufacturing and boost Make In India".

India, PM Modi said, is rising in global FDI rankings "at a time when FDI is falling all over the world". This, he said, was because of reforms that the government has brought in over the last five years. India is a unique combination of 4 factors, he said - "Democracy, Demography, Demand and Decisiveness".

"Our democracy, judiciary ensures safety of investment. Our demography makes India one of the best engineering, R&D bases," he said. There is demand on many fronts - including infrastructure and defence -- and the government, he said, has stressed on building seamless, inclusive and transparent systems.