India's policy is investor-friendly, avers Centre

 Reacting to US President Barack Obama’s comments on investment climate in India, New Delhi, on Monday, said that it was the government’s ‘sovereign right’ to decide the economic policies of the country and US should lead the fight against protectionism and trade barriers to encourage capital flow.  

A day after Obama told PTI in Washington that the US business community found it difficult to invest in India due to restrictions on foreign capital inflow in retail and other sectors, Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that the country’s current policy regime was rather investor-friendly. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) too denounced the US President’s remark.

“He (Obama) has every right to convey what his perceptions are, but the policy-making is a sovereign decision and India’s Foreign Direct Investment policy regime is investor-friendly,” Sharma told the media on Monday. “There is always a difference between perception and reality. India remains one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investors with most sectors open for FDI.”

He underlined that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government has been pursuing a “calibrated approach” through “various policy measures, reforms, simplification and rationalization” to open up the economy and create an investor-friendly regime.

In his interview to the PTI, the US President referred to “a growing consensus” in India that the “time might be right for another wave of economic reforms” to make the country “more competitive in the global economy.” He said opening up retail and other sectors for FDI would help create jobs in both US and India and would help the latter continue to grow.

Sharma, however, sought to turn the table on Obama Administration and rather took a subtle dig at the US on the issue of American government’s protectionist policies that India Inc, particularly the IT industry, has been complaining about.

“We would rather urge the US to demonstrate leadership in bringing down barriers, encouraging capital flows and trade in the world which is good for every economy. The US should be leading the fight against protectionism and taking forward the stalled Doha Development Round of the WTO to a meaningful conclusion,” he added.