“With the clear-headed and committed leadership in India, and several reforms to ease foreign investment in infrastructure, including fiscal benefits underway, there were opportunities for investors and industry in the country.”
— Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister of India
“I see opportunities galore in India for all investors and industry stakeholders,” the Finance Minister said at a roundtable organised by FICCI and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. She said that with the clear-headed and committed leadership in India, and several reforms to ease foreign investment in infrastructure, including fiscal benefits underway, there were opportunities for investors and industry in the country. The Finance Minister was speaking to global leaders and investors in an interaction in New York recently. She is on a week-long tour of the United States, where she has been meeting several business leaders and US government officials including treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
India has fully leveraged the potential of digitisation even during the most challenging time of the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, adding that the role of technology in the financial sector was helping to push the frontier of financial inclusion. “Fintechs are playing a key role in this area,” said Sitharaman. She spoke about the opportunities in India. Startups in India had grown tremendously and many were now raising money through capital markets. “This year itself, more than 16 of them will qualify as unicorns,” she said.
Economic Times had reported that Indian startups such as Pharmeasy, Meesho, Groww, Cred, Gupshup and ShareChat raised more than $2.6 billion from 21 deals earlier this year.
The Finance Minister also attended the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the Annual Meetings 2021 held in Washington D.C. on October 14, 2021. The meeting was attended by Governors/Alternate Governors representing 190-member countries of the IMF.
The Finance Minister also highlighted to all the participants that despite the pandemic crisis, India continued its agenda of structural reforms. Wide-ranging reforms, including in agriculture, labour and financial sector are expected to contribute towards acceleration of the economy
The discussions at the meeting centered on “vaccinate, calibrate and accelerate” which is the theme of the Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda. The members of the IMFC elaborated the actions and measures taken by member countries to combat COVID-19 and facilitate economic recovery.
Sitharaman conveyed that India recognised that universal vaccination is the key to stemming the spread of the virus. She asserted that the stark differences in vaccination coverage of low-income countries and advanced countries is of concern and it is critical that we need to address vaccine inequity.
The Finance Minister emphasized importance of the multilateral approach with the principles of equity and common, but differentiated, responsibilities and capabilities to combat climate change. Smt. Sitharaman stressed that it is important to recognize the formidable challenges faced by developing countries in getting access to affordable financing and technology.
Speaking on the issue of Covid-19 pandemic and the response of health care systems, the Finance Minister said that to win the war against COVID-19, it was imperative that we freely share medical research and develop adaptive, responsive, affordable, and accessible health care systems.
The Finance Minister also highlighted to all the participants that despite the pandemic crisis, India continued its agenda of structural reforms. Wide-ranging reforms, including in agriculture, labour and financial sector are expected to contribute towards acceleration of the economy.
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