“Two-fifths of the 1,200 business leaders surveyed in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore were planning additional or first time investments in India…”
India is aiming for a USD 5 trillion economy and that can only be possible with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Commenting that FDI was critically important for India to become a USD 5 trillion economy, Punit Renjen, Deloitte CEO, emphasized that over two-fifths of the 1,200 business leaders surveyed in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore were planning additional or first time investments in India.
Speaking to PTI, Renjen said that the survey had made it clear that India continued to be “one of the most attractive” FDI destinations. “Despite the COVID-19 destruction, inflows hit a record high last year. Business leaders, whom Deloitte surveyed, are preparing to make additional and first time investments in India,” Renjen said.
The CEO also said, “FDI, I believe, is the key to India’s aspiration to be a USD 5 trillion economy and I think that is eminently doable. I am certainly a very big proponent of India and what can be accomplished.”
The survey also pointed out the value of the skilled workforce and prospects for economic growth, particularly domestic. These were important to bring in FDI, he said. Renjen also mentioned that the general view of India being a challenging place to do business had come about because of low awareness about government programmes, incentives and reforms — particularly those that have been recently announced by the government.
Speaking about the survey, Renjen mentioned, “Of 1,200 business leaders surveyed in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore, 44 per cent are planning additional or first-time investments in India. Among the first-time investors, nearly two-third are planning to do so within the next two years,” he said.
The Deloitte CEO also highlighted India’s domestic market which was important in addition to the country being an export hub. The domestic market was important for FDI investment, he said. “Business leaders rated India higher on economic growth and skilled workforce, which are great attractors,” he told the news agency.
“FDI, I believe, is the key to India’s aspiration to be a USD 5 trillion economy and I think that is eminently doable. I am certainly a very big proponent of India and what can be accomplished.”
— Punit Renjen, Deloitte CEO
Renjen said some of the recent policy clarifications was very good and the stated investment in infrastructure was welcoming. He said that 16 per cent of surveyed business leaders in Japan, and nine per cent in Singapore were little aware of the initiatives such as digitization of customers, clearance and production. “There is a lack of awareness of all the really good things that the government is doing.”
Under Renjen’s leadership, Deloitte has become the first professional services firm to cross USD 50 billion. Even during the COVID-19 times, the company grew by 5.5 per cent. He said Deloitte had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it would hire 75,000 more people in India in the next three years. The company currently has 65,000 people in India, out of a total global workforce of 3,45,000.
Renjen was emphatic about the fact that India was “absolutely key” to Deloitte. Fifteen per cent of Deloitte’s 3,45,000 individuals live and work in India, and this would going to go up to nearly 25 per cent in the next three years, he said adding that it would reach tier-two and tier-three cities.
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