Environment of doing business in India has changed: Jaitley

October 14, 2017 08:23

India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next decade or two, owing to some structural changes by the government and a turnaround in the global economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

The whole environment of doing business has changed in a matter of months, Jaitley told a Washington, DC, audience at an event organised by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum.

"India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next one-two decades. This is mainly because of the series of structural reforms being carried out by the government, turnaround in the global economy, and the massive investment opportunity that the infrastructure sector offers," said Jaitley.

"I am certain that now that the growth is returning back to the world, the future holds an important direction as far as India is concerned. The sheer size of the country and economy would offer huge opportunity for investment in India in the next few years," he said.

Jaitley said that when the BJP government came to power in 2014, it had the choice to look the other way and allow the shadow economy to continue.

"But it did not do so, as it took a series of courageous steps which ultimately culminated in demonetisation of high-value currency," the finance minister said.

The government knew that there would be short-term impact on the economy, Jaitley said, "but, in the long term, it would benefit the country," he told a gathering of investors and corporate leaders.

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