The Hindu Business Line : NRIs urged to invest in `other India'

THE 20 million-odd Indians living outside India have been called upon by the Government to become Non-resident Investors in the country, as opposed to being just Non-resident Indians (NRI).

Articulating the Government's investment-lead strategy for growth, the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram urged the NRI gathering, at the Third Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to invest in India in sectors such as agriculture, services and social infrastructure. While the Government welcomed the remittances sent by the Indian diaspora, he told the gathering to transform this form of saving into an investment instead.

And invest not just in the sectors outlined, but also in areas benefiting the `other India.' He told the participants to go back to their districts and invest in a school or a hospital, for instance.

Further, he indicated that the opportunity for urban development, housing development and new township development would liberalise in the near future. Responding to a query from the audience on NRI investments in real-estate, he said that new townships were open to NRIs, but with limits. The concerned ministry is looking at the 100-acre limit and soon there will be different limits for rural areas and urban areas, he said.

On allowing foreign media into the country, he said that a Group of Ministers was already looking into whether there was a need to open up further to foreign media. At present foreign media are allowed to hold 26 per cent in the print media, he said, responding to another query.

But while listing out the investment opportunities that exist for NRIs looking into the country, he said that they would not be given voting rights.

On making India a global hub, he indicated that the benefit of the global market needed to percolate across the country and not be restricted to a few segments.

Speaking earlier, Dr Raghuram Rajan, Economic Counsellor and Director, Research Department with the IMF said that the stars were well-aligned for India to become a hub for globalisation. And while the Government needed to play an enabling role to attract foreign investors, there also needs to be a social security net to support this modernisation, he said. "India's future is in our hand and it depends on what we make of it," he concluded.

Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons and Mr A.K. Purwar, Chairman, SBI, also participated in the session.

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