Despite the fact that India has done away with a lot of old practices that hampered trade and growth, all is not rosy with the country and it still needs to do a lot more, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Replying to a question immediately after the Special Leader's Delegation, the prime minister said: "All is not rosy with India. Since 1991, India has taken a break from old practices and a great deal has been done, but the process is not over and there are miles to go. The government has cut tariffs and very soon will bring them down to ASEAN levels."
"Despite hurdles, India is successful and even though in the past few years different governments have come to the Centre, no government has reversed the policy of liberalisation," he added.
The prime minister said that Indian states are vying with each other to attract more foreign direct investment, with the improvement in the investment climate and the reduction in bureaucratic and ideological hurdles.
To this end, he cited the example of West Bengal and its progressive chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. He said that even though West Bengal is ruled by a Leftist government, the state chief minister is pulling out all stops to bring in big investment to the state.
He accepted that even though red tape and certain other impediments still exist, the investment climate is much friendlier now that ever before.
When asked if India would open up the retail sector to foreign direct investment, the prime minister said that the issue was being debated and he expected a 'positive outcome in the next 5-6 months.'
While admitting that India's infrastructure was not world class, Manmohan Singh said that in the next 4 to 5 years India roads would change beyond recognition, thanks to the ambitious nation-wide road network project that is currently underway. He welcomed ASEAN entrepreneurs for their involvement in building India's road network.
The prime minister promised to 'dismantle unwanted barriers' and expand global capital flows to attract $150 billion in the sector, particularly in the modernisation process of Chennai and Kolkata airports.
"India's infrastructure is not top class. But we are working on it. You will see a change soon," he said.
Wooing Asian businessmen, the prime minister said that the Asian region has enough surplus capital and "India offers immense opportunities for entrepreneurs of the ASEAN region to utilise that surplus savings."
He welcomed businessmen from the ASEAN region to "test India's waters."
He also said that the dedicated freight corridor involving Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai would enhance India's infrastructure to a great extent.
He also said that India's telecom sector has gone through a sea change over the last decade. Two million new telephone connections are being added every month. And the change is just on 'quantitative but also qualitative too,' he said.
Manmohan Singh said India was aiming at a high 9-10 per cent growth. The prime minister will meeting ASEAN leaders on Tuesday.
When asked how the government plans to sort out the differences that the politicians in India have with corporate India -- a reference to Infosys chairman N R Narayana Murthy's resignation from the Bangalore international airport project following the utterances of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda -- the prime minister said that he could "not promise that there will not be such problems in the future.
There will be relations between politicians and businessmen. We are a functioning democracy."
