Jaitley promotes India as an investment hotspot

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is in Davos to showcase India as an investment destination at the World Economic Forum (WEF), on Wednesday promised India has a "lot in the pipeline" for global investors even as he plans to take up with Switzerland the issue of black money stashed in banks there.

Jaitley, who marks a high-power Indian presence that includes Power Minister Piyush Goyal and top industrialists and bankers, is slated to meet his Swiss counterpart Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf when the issue of black money in Swiss banks will figure.

Shortly on his arrival, the Finance Minister said the ongoing meet of the rich and the powerful would be an opportunity for India where a lot is happening.

He said that competing economies are mostly not doing so well and if India continued in the course that it had taken in the last seven, eight months, "there is a lot that we can attract".

Jaitley said he would tell the investors that the government has done a lot and a lot is in the pipeline. Therefore, both Government of India and India as a state have embarked on a particular course and "this is what we are likely to do. So this is an opportunity to showcase India."

Jaitley, who would be in Davos till January 23, said he would discuss the issue of black money with his Swiss counterpart when they meet on the sidelines of the WEF meet.

He is expected to seek Swiss cooperation regarding details of Indian citizens holding unaccounted money in Swiss banks and ways to repatriate that money.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis, top bankers Arundhati Bhattacharya of State Bank and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI are attending the WEF meet which is on till January 24.

Jaitley will be attending two sessions on India and another one along with BRICS members at the WEF meet. With as many as 120 registered participants, the Indian presence is the fifth largest at the ongoing WEF Annual Meeting in this ski resort town on slopes of the Swiss Alps, where buses are also seen carrying 'Make In India' slogans.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the country's power sector is set for "$250 billion investment" across different segments. He is confident about foreign and domestic investors participating in a big way in the Indian growth story.

Top bankers of the country said India is attracting huge interest from foreign investors. State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya believes that India is at the "cross roads" but is well positioned to take advantage of demand, democracy and demography to ensure infrastructure development and overall growth.

ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar said investor sentiment towards India is seeing a sea change and would soon yield significant investment flows, helped by the government's consistent steps to improve business environment and remove growth hurdles.

Maharastra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, "entire atmosphere has changed". States are becoming more and more competitive and every state is following Make in India programme with their own state-focused initiative, he added.

Projecting Andhra Pradesh as a logistics hub for entire South East Asia, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said his state can be a gateway for all foreign investors coming to India.