Nirmala Sitharaman highlights India’s process, governance reforms for more investor-friendly engagements

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.

While addressing the Roundtable on Investment Opportunities in India’ at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, Sitharaman termed improving the ease of doing business parameters and reducing the regulatory and compliance burdens for enterprises in India as New Delhi’s policy cornerstone.

Various 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. @nsitharamanaddresses 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.”

In her address, Sitharaman stressed on India’s digital prowess that will define its growth and development in the next years with digitization reforms and the resulting efficiency gains becoming important drivers of India’s economic growth in the medium to long term.

Taking to X, the Ministry of Finance stated, “FM Smt. @nsitharaman emphasised India’s policy cornerstone is improving the Ease of Doing Business #EoDB parameters and reducing the regulatory and compliance burdens for enterprises in 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 emphasised on India’s digital prowess that will define India’s growth and development in the coming decade with #digitisation #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 received a warm welcome at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday (local time).

India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and Consul General of India in New York, Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, welcomed Sitharaman, following her arrival from Mexico City.

Highlighting India’s growth, Sitharaman stated that India’s market capitalization has reached USD 5.5 trillion and is currently at the fourth spot after the US, China, and Japan, demonstrating that the reforms are showing results.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Finance stated, “The Union Finance Minister informed the Roundtable participants that India’s market capitalisation has reached USD 5.5-trillion milestone and is currently ranked fourth globally, after US, China, and Japan., indicating that India’s #reforms are yielding results. Referring to 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.

Union Finance Minister stressed that infrastructure is a key priority for the Indian government. She noted that India’s journey into the future entails various opportunities for investment collaboration and participation by global investors.

“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,” Ministry of Finance said in a post on X.

“She outlined that NIIF is coming up with a host of new Funds such as the Private Markets Fund II, US-India Green Transition Fund (USIGF) and the Master Fund II all of which provide exciting opportunities for long term investment and returns. Going into the #AmritKaal towards #ViksitBharat in 2047, FM Smt. @nsitharaman said that India’s journey into the future entails a multitude of opportunities for investment collaboration, and participation by global investors,” it added.

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

She had invited Mexican investors to explore opportunities in India’s Global In-House Capability Centers (GICCs), aircraft leasing, ship leasing, and even foreign university setups at GIFT-IFSC, which is emerging as a global hub for reinsurance and sustainable finance. She had also participated in the India-Mexico Trade and Investment Summit.

Earlier in September, the Ministry of Finance notified the new Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules 2024 to simplify rules and regulations for foreign investments. The new rules are aimed at streamlining and rationalising existing rules and regulations to further facilitate ease of doing business.

The Finance Ministry said in a statement, “As part of a broader initiative to streamline and rationalise existing rules and regulations to further facilitate ease of doing business, the compounding proceeding rules were comprehensively reviewed in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.”

The new rule will replace the existing Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules 2000. The ministry said that the government is emphasising simplifying the provisions to expedite and streamline the processing of compounding applications.

The finance ministry is also working to introduce digital payment options for application fees and compounding amounts, with a focus on simplification and rationalisation of the provisions to eliminate ambiguity and clarify the process.

“These amendments indicate the commitment of the government towards promoting ‘ease of investment’ for investors and ‘ease of doing business’ for businesses,” the ministry said.

The Compounding of Foreign Exchange (FEMA) Proceedings Rules, 2000 govern the process of resolving or settling offences related to violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

Compounding under these rules allows individuals or entities to admit a violation and pay a penalty to avoid protracted litigation or criminal prosecution. The move was taken after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman emphasised that the government would prioritise foreign investment in the country and that it would come up with flexible rules to promote foreign investments.