Highlighting his government's initiatives to streamline and simplify governance, mainly in doing business in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that currently India has transformed into one of the world's most open economies. He further said that the country has moved up in almost all global indices that measure such performances. He indicated that the economic growth of the country is strong and they are taking steps to keep the momentum going.
The government has undertaken a slew of reforms like passing the indirect taxation legislation on goods and services tax which seeks to make the country a single market, passing the Bankruptcy Code which will help troubled/failed companies find an exit, and through flagship programmes on the administrative front like the ‘Make in India’ and the ‘Digital India’ initiatives. The government has also been consistently raising caps on foreign holding in domestic companies in a slew of sensitive sectors like defence insurance and defence. All this has had India's ranking in ease of doing business go up by multiple notches in a year to 39 according to the latest ranking by the World Bank.
Modi added that there were many “matching priorities” between the business council and that of his administration, including dismantling trade barriers, promoting skills development, establishing manufacturing supply chains and infrastructure development. He also said that there is need to create clear norms and structures to stop tax evasion, and fight against black money and corruption. He added that Infrastructure has been a key focus and investment of an estimated $1 trillion has been made to build roads/highways, airports and seaports over the next decade.