A POST I WROTE SOME TIME AGO WHEN THE ECONOMIC SCENARIO WAS EXTREMELY BAD....NOW OF COURSE IT HAS IMPROVED CONSIDERABLY - CHEERS!
India - steps to becoming an investors paradise
The economic climate has suffered over the past few months and needs to be bettered if not reversed - let's analyze some of the factors inhibiting foreign investors and even Indians from looking to invest in India.
The basic complain of investors is again red tape....in spite of the fact that many obstacles seen earlier seem to have been eased. Yet many stumbling blocks still remain.
An investor willing to invest here in India has to go over a series of 'checks and balances'....which in turn leads to unnecessary delays and road blocks....perhaps some giving up halfway as a result.
We should be willing to provide a level playing field to all investors irrespective of where they wish to invest...considering the areas open to investment are clearly laid out in the open, as clear policy decisions.
The interference of the Govt to regulate such investment should be kept to the bare minimum...in fact there should be an open window system where all concerns of Indian and foreign investors can be addressed as soon as possible. Why should proposals relating to investment be kept pending indefinitely and subject to Govt approval at every step?
Similarly issues relating to finalization of land and building etc should be left to be dealt with at the level of the investor itself rather than Govt control be it environment factors or compensation factors for land acquired. Some necessary checks for hazardous units are required but those apply to all investors and not necessarily foreigners.
In fact it would be best if the manufacturing units are set up by the investors in industrial economic zones marked for such industrial production.
Steps like tax incentives and continuous power supply and other facilities can surely be provided at the level of the Govt or authorities concerned following a set pattern of clear cut laws to be followed in this regard.
For instance there shouldn't be any ambiguity in the amount of taxes that have to be paid by an investor especially foreigners on the capital invested by them and the take away profits at the end of it all.
Nobody invests for charity but if laws are clear and they know exactly how much is required to be paid to the treasury and how much is 'take away' for them things would start looking up.
After all we are giving tax incentives and rebates to Indian manufacturing units too so the same benefits could be held out to foreigners wanting to invest here.....if they agree to bring in foreign capital....
Let's make India a dream destination to invest in rather than a place where investors would dread or think multiple times coming here to invest.
We have all the factors necessary to attract foreign and Indian capital - a stable Govt, good industrial climate, cheap labor, infrastructure....what is required is an investment climate with minimal Govt interference and a single window clearance mechanism so that projects get cleared faster - say three months to an outer limit of six months, and are then implemented faster, with no road blocks in between.
It won't take time for India to acquire its former glory of an investors paradise if an even playing field is provided to all investors - free from all forms of red tape...of course this is easier said than done - but there's no harm in giving it a try if the industrial climate has to look up and growth figures have to be achieved.
Cheers to that sentiment!
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