Right time to invest in India, says CII President

India is likely to see acceleration in economic reforms over the next quarter, and it is the right time to invest in the country as valuations have become reasonable, the CII President, Mr Adi Godrej, has said.

The industry is very confident that over the next quarter, “we will see some strong moves in terms of reforms to accelerate growth”, Mr Godrej said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Annual Reception in London last night.

He said the industry has been in dialogue with the government to suggest policy changes that would reignite the process of investment and growth.

Among CII’s recommendations are easing of monetary policy, faster implementation of infrastructure projects and control on subsidies.

Mr Godrej said this would be a good time to invest in India, given that valuations have become extremely reasonable.

This week, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, took additional charge of the Finance Ministry after Mr Pranab Mukherjee resigned to contest Presidential elections.

Pushed by Dr Singh after he took charge of the Ministry, his top advisors, including the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and bureaucrats have started working overtime to deal with economic slowdown and low investor sentiment.

Meanwhile, signalling the increasing importance the UK attaches to India, the British Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Mr Gregory Barker, has been given additional responsibility for increasing trade and investment with India.

Mr Barker himself made the announcement at the reception.

“I have been given additional responsibility for India by the Prime Minister, David Cameron and am delighted to be making this official announcement here today,” Mr Barker said.

He will work along with his colleagues Mr Jeremy Brown, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and Lord Green, Minister for Trade.

The move shows the importance that UK gives to India, with three Ministers in the Government having responsibility of increasing bilateral trade and investment relations.

The announcement was received by thunderous applause in the historic Banqueting House, packed to capacity with guests including Ministers, MPs, Lords and Ladies, senior UK Government officials and Chief Executives of a large number of UK, global and Indian companies.

Earlier in the day, CII in partnership with the Confederation of British Industry organised its annual conference on ‘India-UK Partnerships in Reviving and Restoring Economic Growth’.

The CII delegation also met the UK Chancellor, Mr George Osborne, Mayor of London, Mr Boris Johnson, and Home Affairs Select Committee Chairman, Mr Keith Vaz.

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