PM Modi meets investors ahead of Budget, asks them to help boost investment

Ahead of the Union Budget in February next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday held wide-ranging discussions with representatives of venture capital and private equity funds seeking suggestions to boost investment climate in the country by attracting more capital and furthering the reform process.

Modi also discussed the efforts undertaken by the government to bring in more reforms, future potential of initiatives like PM GatiShakti, and steps taken to reduce the unnecessary compliance burden. He mentioned the innovation happening in India at the grass-root level and the boost to the startup ecosystem.

The Prime Minister also sought suggestions towards improving ease of doing business in India

The meeting was attended by nearly two dozen business leaders, venture capitalists and startups.

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Emerging from the meeting, said Sandeep Naik, Managing Director and Head of General Atlantic’s business in India, his company will invest upto $15 billion in the next 10 years in India as he considered the country a critical destination in the coming times as there were big changes on its way after the government heralded several reforms.

The American equity firm already has a $5 billion investment in India.

“The Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund representatives also talked about the entrepreneurial potential of the country, and how it can be leveraged so that our startups can attain global scale,” an official statement issued after the meeting said.

Another participant Accel’s Prashant Prakash highlighted the opportunities that are present in the Agri startups. Rajan Anandan, who served as vice president of Google India, suggested working towards making India the global hub in education by leveraging technology.

The representatives also discussed the opportunities that are emerging because of India's exemplary climate commitments including the ones in the sphere of energy transitions. They also gave inputs about areas like FinTech and financial management.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also attended the meeting along with a host of officials.

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