Vibrant Gujarat Summit: Modi promises stable taxes, predictable policies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised on Sunday to pursue predictable policies and ensure stable taxes, in a speech that sought to address a key concern for foreign investors in Asia’s third-largest economy. Modi made his pitch at a major conference at which he set out the case for global investors to back his vision of ‘inclusive growth’ that would help lift hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty. “We’re trying to complete the circle of economic reforms speedily,” Modi told the Vibrant Gujarat summit that he founded when he was chief minister of the fast-growing industrial state. “We are also keen to see that our policies are predictable. We’re clear that our tax regime should be stable.” In one high-profile case, Britain’s Vodafone was caught out by retroactive tax claims in India. Modi’s government has vowed to treat foreign investors fairly but has not changed the law to prevent such claims in future. [caption id=“attachment_2040343” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Twitter Page[/caption] Modi, 64, rattled off a list of his achievements since winning a general election last May, rebutting suggestions by critics that his promise of “red carpet, not red tape” was empty rhetoric. These included a drive to open more than 100 million bank accounts, a ‘Make in India’ campaign to promote manufacturing, and plans to expand India’s rail, road, energy and digital networks. “We are not merely making commitments and announcements,” Modi told political and business leaders. “We have been backing them up with concrete actions.” He expressed concern about the state of the global economy but said that India, alone among the world’s large economies, was expected to grow faster this year than in 2014. “We are planning to take a quantum leap,” said Modi. Taking on those who have attacked him for “just talking”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  said he was not only making announcements but also backing them up with “concrete action”. “We are not only making commitments and announcements. But we are backing them up with concrete action at the level of policy and action,” Modi told global leaders, corporate honchos and CEOs at the seventh edition of the Vibrant Gujarat global investment summit. Citing examples, Modi said that opening 100 million bank accounts in just four months, allowing 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in railways, allowing 49 percent FDI in the defence sector and 49 percent FDI in insurance sector were some of the steps taken by his government after taking power May last year. “Sometimes it appears that Modi is hyping up things. We do this to force us in the government to make faster corrections,” he pointed out. This year, the summit has the US, Britain, Japan, Canada, Holland, Australia, Singapore and South Africa as partner countries. Leading trade bodies like the United State India Business Council (USIBC), which has brought its biggest-ever delegation of over 130 top business honchos, and others are part of the event. Top Indian industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Kumarmangalam Birla, Anil Ambani, Gautam Adani and ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar rubbed shoulders with global CEOs, including Ajay Banga of Mastercard. “We are placing our bets on India,” said Banga, who once studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. “In the next one decade, India can lead in ending poverty. Till India is part of our efforts (in removing poverty), the World Bank cannot succeed,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said. US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was inspired by Modi’s slogan ‘Sabka saath, Sabka vikas’. “We should all adopt it,” he said in a lighter vein. Agencies