'Global firms to increase investments in India following govt's reforms'

Singapore: International corporations will increase investments in India following the government’s policy reforms announced last week, Vice Chairman of General Electric Co John Rice said here today.

He also pointed out that progress on infrastructure development was slow and called for more pro-investment reforms.

“We are optimistic with the announcement and we hope the government follows through and demonstrates that India is a place where you should invest and the companies like ours will invest,” he said during a talk at the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

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Welcoming the announcement of Foreign Direct Investment in Retail sector as well as reports for more liberal reforms to attract foreign investments, Rice said, “we have a role to play too” as investors in infrastructure.

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“I am very hopeful (of) the big steps that were announced by the Indian government,” he stressed.

He highlighted the enormous potential for investors to participate in the Indian market. “We have been in there for a long time and we will be there for a long time,” Rice said of GE’s presence in India and pledged to continue to do so.

But, he also expressed concerns about the slow progress in infrastructure development, calling for pro-investment regulations and right tariff regime.

“We also think that we aren’t as big in India as we should be, and part of the reasons is that some of these big infrastructure investments that need to be made, don’t get made,” he said.

Rice pointed out that General Electric has sold turbines to Indian customers in the past but these were never installed for lack to access to fuel due to absence of right tariff regime.

GE is investing USD 200 million in its first manufacturing facility in India. Located at Pune, the facility would manufacture products for power generation, transmission & distribution and measurement & control systems.

Work on the construction of the facility began in June this year.

PTI