Overseas investors excited about India, says Sinha

Foreign investors are excited about India as structural reforms and investments are giving overall growth a leg-up, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today. Emphasising that demonetisation has led to a "dramatic improvement" in the country's economic landscape, he said the move has helped in strengthening banks as well as improving the overall economy.

"Foreign investors are seeing that cash to GDP is coming down and tax to GDP is going up. They see it as a very very powerful structural reform in India," he said. "You saw that the GST Council has largely approved the draft of the legislation. It is a very important structural reform... So, foreign investors are very excited about India." Amid concerns in certain quarters about the country's economic prospects, the minister of state for civil aviation said everybody is entitled to their opinion, but not own facts.

"The facts are clear and they are telling us that we have been doing good in the economy... structural reforms that we have unleashed as well as the kind of investments that the government and the private sector in India are making are really contributing to very strong growth," Sinha said. He was speaking at the conference organised by IVCA (Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association) here.

Sinha complimented alternative asset investors in India for doing "extraordinarily good". "There has been a tremendous interest globally in stepping up investments in India and they have built up their positions in India," he added. Alternative investments include venture capital and private equity.

"Demonetisation is over. It has led to a dramatic improvement in our economic landscape... The amount of cash we have in circulation is lower than the amount of cash we had in circulation prior to demonetisation, " the minister said. In an effort to curb blackmoney flows and corruption, the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes last November.

Noting that demonetisation has resulted in various benefits, Sinha said banks have gained significantly from the low cost CASA (Current Account Savings Account). "The investment that is pouring, bullishness among foreign investors, bull run in our equity market and the fact that demonetisation is over and worked brilliantly tell us that in the next 12-18 months, the economy is going to do extremely well," he said.