The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley inaugurated and addressed the ‘”Make in India Conference – Collaboration for Growth with Mutual Benefit’’ in Sydney today.

During his Keynote Address, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley highlighted the various steps undertaken by the Indian Government to facilitate ease of doing business and create an investor friendly climate in the country as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative. He stressed on the need for manufacturing growth to ensure employment for youth of the country.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further mentioned that the Government has taken concrete steps for cutting red tape, simplifying rules and procedures including delicensing the business environment among others. He said that the Government is working towards making tax regime transparent, stable and predictable.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that Make in India has become the biggest global brand which India has ever created. He said that India has become one of the fastest growing large economies in the world. India has been ranked as the most attractive investment destination by several global agencies and institutions, the Minister added.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley mentioned about various FDI reforms undertaken recently by the present Government for attracting foreign investment in particularly in sectors such as Railways, Defence, Services and Manufacturing. He said that the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has been set-up which will be professionally managed and mainly invest in commercially viable infrastructure projects.

Later a Plenary session on Doing Business in India was held where Government, polices, reforms and taxation issues were discussed. Three parallel Break-Out Sessions on Mining and Resources, Agribusiness and Smart Cities & Urban solutions were also held during the one day Conference.

Among other speakers at the ‘”Make in India’’ Conference included Mr Andrew Robb, Special Envoy for Trade, Australia, Mr Navdeep Suri, High Commissioner of India to Australia, Mr Jonathan O’Dea MP, Parliamentary Secretary for major Events and Tourism, Government of New South Wales(NSW), Mrs Kalpana Awasthi, Joint Secretary, DIPP and Mr Sumit Mazumder, President, CII.

The event was jointly organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Planning (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India; Consulate General of India(CGI), Sydney and Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and was supported by Austrade. The event was attended among others by a large number of representatives of Australian and Indian businesses.

Ease of doing business reforms aim to attract foreign investment and promote manufacturing-led job creation. The Government announced regulatory measures-simplifying rules, cutting red tape, delicensing and a more transparent, stable tax regime-to improve ease of doing business, stimulate manufacturing-led employment, and attract investment. It emphasised FDI reforms in key sectors and the establishment of the NIIF to finance commercially viable infrastructure projects, framed within a Make in India conference with sectoral sessions on investment and policy reforms.