by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Investing, News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of United Kingdom (UK), Mr. David Cameroon, at delegation-level talks, in 10 Downing Street, London
London:(IANS) Calling India an easy and simple place to business in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invited British investors to invest in his country.
“We have worked aggressively to make India an easy and simple place to do business,” Modi said while addressing the City of London at the Old Library in Guildhall on the first day of his three-day visit to India.
“There is significant potential for India and UK to further strengthen their economic ties,” he said.
“The hallmark of our strategy now is policy-driven governance,” he said, adding that India was one of the most open countries for foreign investments.
He said the results of the hard work are now visible.
“IMF chief has recently said that India is among few bright spots in global economy today. Our growth rate in the last year was 7.3 percent,” the Indian prime minister said.
“The World Bank has very recently projected our growth rate at 7.5 percent for this fiscal and even better in the coming years. Thus, we are fortunate to be sailing in the right direction. In the World Bank Report of 2016 on ease of doing business, India has moved up by 12 ranks at one go.”
Modi said that to enhance the flow of foreign investments, India has liberalised the FDI regime allowing 100 percent FDI in railways.
“We enhanced the FDI limits to 49 percent in defence and insurance,” he said.
He also mentioned that an India Investment and Infrastructure Fund has been set up.
“We have targeted an annual contribution of $3.5 billion into this fund from our own resources. We are putting in place a professional team for asset management,” he said.
Modi said that India has also come up with the mechanism of tax free infrastructure bonds for projects in rail, road and other sectors.
“We will work together with the British government, industry and the financial markets to deepen our relationship and harness their interest in India’s infrastructure. Very soon, these bonds will become strong instruments for engagement between our financial markets,” he said.
“We want to make sure that our tax regime is transparent and predictable. We are also keen to see that genuine investors and honest tax payers get quick and fair decisions on tax matters.”
He said that in just 18 months, “we have successfully restored the credibility of India in the eyes of global players”.
At this point of time, it is wiser to be in India
Earlier in the day, India and Britain signed a civil nuclear agreement following delegation-level talks between the two sides.
After this, Modi addressed a joint session of the British parliament, becoming the first Indian prime minister to do so.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Startup Basics
Prime Minister,Narendra Modi with the Facebook Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, at Facebook HQ, in San Jose, California
San Jose:(IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had a glimpse into the future of his latest per project of promoting and fostering entrepreneurship when he visited the “India-US Startup Konnect 2015” exposition here that is showcasing India’s strengths in the startup ecosystem through the displays of some 40 companies.
“It is a great pleasure to be here. For me, this is a special event because the idea of startups is close to my heart. When I shifted to Delhi last year, I thought of my government as a start up,” Modi told the packed gathering at what is considered the Mecca of tech innovation.
Hosted by Nasscom in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), the day-long event on the margins of Modi’s visit to the Silicon Valley highlights Indian innovation through the eyes of 30 startups.
The prime minister was again ready with his quotable quotes. “I often say that if there is a strong wind, some shut the window, but others put a windmill or launch sail in the sea,” he said.
“The course of human history and progress has been shaped by imagination, inspiration, invention and innovation.”
The prime minister said the idea of a start-up was as ancient as the world itself, with each economic era defined by the disruption of the previous one with the evolution of new ideas and products.
“Start-ups have always been engines of progress. The mega corporations of today were start-ups of yesterday.”
Modi also launched year the “Bharat Fund” that will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs who will go after projects that can promote better health, usher in new socially-helpful technologies, look at new and renewable sources of energy and push farm-sector development.
Explaining the idea of Startup Konnect, Nasscom top brass here said the intention was a single platform for funding, mentoring, and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit for as many as 10,000 start-ups — who will get to meet some experts and advisors in the field to adapt idea into a successful business venture.
“A girl child in a remote Indian village dreams of her own projects when she sees start-ups of today,”said Modi.
“The potential of youth and innovation can ignite partnership between India and US and give new content to our strategic partnership.”
The prime minister also witnessed the signing of seven pacts between Indian-US entities to strengthen the Start-up Konnect
Earlier, Reid Garrett Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn and a entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, said the key success of Silicon Valley ad the global tech and entrepreneurship hub was not start-ups, but scale-ups.
“What the prime minister is doing in terms of ‘Digital India’ is great leadership,” he said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
Prime Minister,Narendra Modi being shown the demos of cutting-edge Google technology including Project Iris & Google Earth at Google campus, in Silicon Valley, California. The CEO, Google, Sundar Pichai is also seen.
San Jose:(IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a roundtable on renewable energy with top energy CEOs and experts during which he emphasised India’s commitment to realize the vision of 175 GigaWatts of clean energy by 2022.
At the roundtable, which was also attended by US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Modi gave an overview of initiatives undertaken in India in the area of renewable energy, such as Kochi airport becoming a solar-powered airport and solar panels being installed over a canal in Gujarat as another example of the use of renewable energy.
He said that early next month, a district court in the tribal belt of Jharkhand will become entirely solar-powered. Modi also mentioned coal gasification as an important area of research. He expressed confidence of a renewable energy revolution over the next decade, said an official statement.
Modi said there is massive scope of investment in the clean energy sector, for example, through the Railways, where 100 percent FDI has been allowed. He said the government is working to address issues in regulation, and address the financial health of Discoms.
Besides, Moniz, the meeting was also attended by Prof. Steven Chu, former US Secretary of Energy.
Top energy CEOs and investors, including Ahmad Chatila, CEO SunEdison; Nikesh Arora, President and COO, Softbank; K.R. Sridhar, CEO, Bloom Energy; Jonathan Wolfson, CEO, Solazyme; John Doerr, Venture Capitalist; and Ira Ehrenpreis of DBL partners were present.
Prof Arun Majumdar, Prof Roger Noll, Dr. Anjani Kochar, and Prof. Sally Benson, all from Stanford University, participated.
Among the views expressed at the roundtable, was a clear assertion that India has the makings of becoming the “clean energy world capital”.
The participants said that clean and renewable energy will soon be an inexpensive energy option, with electricity storage becoming cheaper.
Participants were of the view that states and cities in India should be allowed to take the lead in clean energy initiatives. A related thought was that the current grid is not designed for carrying the 175 GigaWatts (GW) of renewable energy that India is targeting, and therefore a complimentary effort is required on the grid side.
Private investment was emphasized as vital for realizing the vision of 175 GW, with a parallel example being given of how Israel had solved its water shortage using private investment, said the official statement.
Experts were of the view that India has to address issues in four key areas – viz. technology integration; finance; regulatory frameworks; and the right talent pool. They also expressed concern at the financial status of power distribution companies (Discoms) in India.
The CEOs present gave a brief overview of the technologies and innovations being used in their companies. In addition to solar and wind energy, biomass was also suggested as a key provider of clean energy.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business
Power Loom Factory In Malegaon, (Photo Maeeshat)
Chennai:(IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged movie stars, youths and others to use handloom products to give a much needed boost to the sector.
“If movie actors decide to use only handloom and handicraft products in one out of their five movies, then those movies will automatically attract good viewership,” Modi said.
Modi said film industry plays a major part in popularizing fashion.
He was here to launch the National Handloom Day and the India Handloom brand for better market positioning of Indian handloom products.
Speaking at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium, Modi said youths of today make purchases online and added that handloom products should also be made available online.
He said handloom products were to be branded because Indian handloom products lack global branding.
He said the sale of khadi products had gone up by 60 percent after his October 2 appeal to people to use at least one khadi product to brighten the lives of the producers.
A similar call should be given for handloom products.
Modi said handloom could be used for curtains, clothes, bedsheets, doormat and more.
The prime minister said handlooms form 15 percent of the total textile market, and if this was increased to 20 percent, the turnover of the sector would increase by 33 percent.
Starting this year, the National Handloom Day would be celebrated on August 7 every year.
It was on this day in 1905 that the boycott of British products began during India’s freedom struggle.
The National Handloom Day is observed to generate awareness about the importance of handloom industry which is part of India’s rich heritage and culture.
Over 43 lakh people are engaged in handloom weaving and allied activities in India.
The industry is a source of livelihood to large sections of rural population particularly women, and BPL families, in addition to being a part of the country’s rich cultural heritage and traditions.
Modi said innovation in design and production should be brought into the handloom sector.
Pointing out the importance of innovative design and marketing, he said the textiles ministry would hold design and marketing competitions.
According to him, pre-weaving stage should be mechanised to reduce the manual labour put in by the weaver.
Listing out the social security measures initiated by his government, Modi said the Mudra (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Bank was floated to meet the needs of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Modi said the government had increased the funding assistance to handloom clusters to Rs.2 crore from the earlier Rs.60 lakh.
Earlier in the day, Modi, who arrived in a special aircraft from New Delhi, was received by Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and her cabinet colleagues at the airport.
Modi went to the Madras University Centenary Auditorium.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Ideas, Entrepreneurship
New Delhi:(IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Skill India Campaign on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day on July 15, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Monday.
The prime minister will formally launch the National Skill Development Mission, unveil the new National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 and roll out on all-India flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Rudy said at an event here, according to an official statement.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consented to be the chief guest for the event to be held at Vigyan Bhawan,” it said.
The pilot phase of PMKVY, that seeks to incentivise skill training by providing financial rewards to candidates who successfuly complete approved training programmes and has a target of 24 lakh youth across India over the next one year, has already begun. The National Skill Development Mission will converge, coordinate, implement and monitor skilling activities across India.
“It will also be a vehicle to achieve the objectives of the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, which will provide policy direction and guidance to all stakeholders in the skill development and entrepreneurship ecosystem,” said Rudy.
The launch of the Skill India Campaign is an important milestone towards achieving the objective of skilling with speed, scale and standards across the country, he said.
“This event would bring together key stakeholders including central ministries/departments, state governments, leading industry bodies, and trainees. Partnerships with all these these stakeholders is vital to ensure that Skill India, is a success,” the minister added.
A ‘Skill Loan’ initiative will be launched at the event, where loans from Rs.5,000 to Rs.1.5 lakh will be available to more than 34 lakh youth, who seek to attend skill development programmes, over the next five years, said Rudy.
