Narendra Modi promises more reforms; hopes to rollout GST next year

Promising more reforms to make India more attractive for foreign investments, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured investors that he would "carefully hold" their hands and expressed hope that the GST regime would be rolled out in 2016.

Speaking at the India Singapore Economic Convention here, Modi said India is exploring a potential partnership with Singapore's Changi Airport for developments of two Indian airports and invited companies here to join in building smart cities.

"In the last 18 months, the run-ways for the take-off of the economy have been made. Reforms are happening in a big way. They are now reaching to the last mile. Reform is to transform the system so that they perform. They aim at helping people realise their dreams.

"It means more charm on the faces and less forms in the offices. Efforts to deepen financial markets have been made," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said his government began to liberalise FDI laws soon after coming to power last year and the latest round of FDI reforms have made India the "most open economy" in the world.

"We are also conscious of last mile operational issues in such matters and we are fine tuning the norms. Recently, we further eased FDI norms, after which India is the most open economy in terms of FDI," he added.

While talking about 40 per cent increase in FDI and improvement in rankings like ease of doing business and world competitiveness index, Modi said, "Perceptions are turning into positive outcomes".

"We are hopeful to roll out GST regime in 2016. The company law tribunal is being set up. FDI inflows have gone up by 40 per cent compared with previous year's comparative period. Perceptions are turning into positive outcomes. FDI commitments are translating into reality," he noted.

Modi also outlined 14 decisive steps taken to address regulatory and taxation concerns and said that India offers tremendous opportunities for investments, ranging from affordable housing to smart cities, railways to renewable energy.

-PTI