New Delhi: Hinting at opening up of more sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said areas with high employment potential and strong local talent will be the focus to woo foreign investment and expressed confidence that reforms measures like GST and land acquisition bills will be passed in "a matter of time".
On the land bill, which the government wants to push early but has now been referred to a parliamentary committee, he said the government will accept any suggestions that benefit "Gaon, Garib, Kisan (village, poor and farmer)".
In a wide-ranging interview to PTI, Modi asserted that measures already taken in past one year have increased the attractiveness of India as an investment destination and investor confidence has improved.
He also dismissed suggestions of a differences between finance ministry and Reserve Bank saying the Central bank has its functional autonomy which the government "always respect and preserve".
"Wherever there is high employment potential and wherever we have strong local talent, for example, in research and development: those will be the areas of focus for FDI.
"We have created the National Infrastructure Investment Fund. This is a major step which will increase the flow of foreign investments into all infrastructure sectors, without needing separate sector-by-sector approaches," he said.
Asked whether obstacles to reforms measures like Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and amendment to Land Acquisition Bill was hurting the economy, the Prime Minister said both the GST and the proposed Land Acquisition Bill are beneficial for the country.
"The core essence of these Bills should be appreciated by all the parties keeping aside political motives. Long term interest of the nation should be foremost.
"The fact that the States have agreed to the GST design, shows the maturity of our federal system and the GST Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha. It is a matter of time before these laws are passed," he said.
To a question what kind of a message would it send to foreign investors if reform measures are not pushed fast, the Prime Minister said, "One of the peculiarities of Delhi is that the term 'reform' is associated only with passing of laws in Parliament.
"In fact, the most important reforms needed are those without new laws at various levels of Government, in work practices and procedures."
Modi said the government has initiated a number of major reforms which include decontrol of diesel prices, direct transfer of cooking gas subsidy, enhancement of FDI limits, revamping of railways and many others.
"The truth is that reform has actually been pushed very fast and in fact as a result FDI has already witnessed an increase of 39 per cent in the period April, 2014 to February, 2015 compared to the previous year," he said.
He also maintained that the success of steps that the government has taken and the positive response of the people to them in the first year "have encouraged us to do even more".
"Our focus will be on P2G2, i.E. Pro-active, Pro-people Good Governance reforms. Another aspect we will emphasize and strengthen is that the State and the Centre are one team which has to work together for reforms to be effective," he said.
Asked about reports of RBI and finance ministry on the same page on issues, Modi said, "I am surprised that an important and credible media agency like PTI is drawing an incorrect inference based on remarks made in different contexts. RBI has its functional autonomy which the Government and the Finance Ministry always respect and preserve".
