News

FM Sitharaman highlights India’s process, governance reforms for investors

Submitted by admin on October 24th, 2024

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India has undertaken a host of process and governance reforms over the last 10 years for more investor-friendly engagement.

Speaking at the Roundtable on Investment Opportunities in India’ held at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, Sitharaman referred to improvements in ease of doing business parameters and the reduction of regulatory and compliance burdens for enterprises in India as New Delhi’s policy cornerstone.

A number of pension funds and other institutional investors and fund managers across the US attended the Roundtable at the New York Stock Exchange.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Finance stated: “Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman addresses the Roundtable on ‘Investment Opportunities in India’ at the New York Stock Exchange @NYSE-the oldest and the largest Stock Exchange in the World, with around 11 Indian companies listed on it. The Roundtable is being attended by various pension funds and other institutional investors and fund managers across USA, forming one of the largest financial systems in the world in terms of total assets under management.”

Sitharaman spoke much about the digital prowess of the country that would define the country’s growth and development in years to come. Digitization reforms and efficiency gains emerge as important drivers of growth for the Indian economy as it passes through time from the medium to long term.

Taking to X, the Ministry of Finance said, “FM Smt @nsitharaman emphasized that improving Ease of Doing Business #EoDB parameters and reducing the regulatory and compliance burdens for enterprises in India are important policy cornerstones for India; and India has undertaken a host of process and governance #reforms over the last decade for more investor-friendly engagement. Combining all these reforms, FM Smt @nsitharaman emphasized on India’s digital prowess that will define India’s growth and development in the coming decade with #digitization #reforms and the resulting #efficiency gains becoming important drivers of India’s economic growth in the medium to long term.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in the United States, and a warm welcome was rendered to her at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday local time. India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Mohan Kwatra, along with Consul General of India in New York Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, welcomed her on arrival from Mexico City.

Referring to the growth of the country, Sitharaman said that India has currently crossed USD 5.5 trillion in market capitalisation and has become the fourth largest by overtaking Japan, hence the reforms are beginning to show fruits.

The Union Finance Minister informed the Roundtable participants that India’s market capitalisation has touched the USD 5.5-trillion milestone and is presently standing at the fourth position in the global list, after US, China, and Japan., indicating that Indian #reforms are yielding results. Talking about India’s maiden International Financial Services Centre @GIFTCity_ FM Smt. @nsitharaman said that some global players and investors like @CitiBank @jpmorgan; @MorganStanley; @BankofAmerica are already engaging with it.\”.

“The Union Finance Minister further informed that as of August 2024, more than 650 + entities across Banks, Capital Markets, Insurance, FinTech, Aircraft Leasing, Ship Leasing, Bullion Exchange, etc have been registered with the @IFSCA_Official, it added.

Infrastructure is one area that has seen high priority from the Indian government. She said the various opportunities for investment collaboration and participation by global investors are part of India’s journey into the future.

“FM Smt. @nsitharaman said that since #Infrastructure is a key priority of the Government of India, NIIF was especially set up as a collaboration between public and private investors, and today it is backed by several highly leading global and domestic investors, Outlining a host of new investment opportunities that exist across the NIIF platform, the Union Finance Minister said that NIIF anchors investments in a manner that mitigates risk for the investors, ” the Ministry of Finance said in a post on X.

“She said NIIF is launching a series of new Funds, including Private Markets Fund II, US-India Green Transition Fund (USIGF), and the Master Fund II-all offering great scope for long-term investments and returns. With India entering the #AmritKaal towards #ViksitBharat in 2047, FM Smt. @nsitharaman said that India’s entry into the future holds an enormous number of opportunities for investment partnership and engagement with global investors,” it added further.

Interestingly, Sitharaman was in Mexico from October 17-20, wherein she interacted with political and business leaders from various sectors in both Guadalajara and Mexico City.

She has invited Mexican investors to explore opportunities in India’s GICCs, aircraft leasing, ship leasing and even foreign university setups at GIFT-IFSC, emerging as a global hub for reinsurance and sustainable finance. She also participated in the India-Mexico Trade and Investment Summit.
Earlier in September, the Ministry of Finance notified new Foreign Exchange Compounding Proceedings Rules 2024 for the simplification of rules and regulations for foreign investment. The new rules are to streamline and rationalize the existing rules and regulations to further facilitate ease of doing business.

The Finance Ministry stated, in a statement, that the rules related to compounding proceeding were reviewed comprehensively, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, as part of a more comprehensive initiative to streamline and rationalize existing rules and regulations to further facilitate ease of doing business.

The new rule that is proposed would replace the existing Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules 2000. According to the ministry, the government is trying to simplify the provisions to ease and streamline the process of compounding applications.

The finance ministry is further working upon the exercise which would incorporate digital payment options for application fees and the amount of compounding, with a focus on simplification and rationalization of provisions to make it both free of ambiguity and clarifies the process.

“These amendments reflect the commitment of the government towards ease of investment by investors and ease of doing business by businesses,” the ministry said.

The Compounding of Foreign Exchange (FEMA) Proceedings Rules, 2000 deal with compounding or settlement of offenses under FEMA 1999.

It will, under the new rules, allow individuals or entities to admit that they have violated the rules and pay a penalty to avoid protracted litigation or criminal prosecution. The step was taken after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman said that the government would focus more on foreign investments in the country and would formulate flexible rules to attract foreign investments.