Investment and Facilitation

The National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency (NIPFA) of India was established in the year 2015 with the theme being “ Invest India “ and is the single point of contact for any investor coming to India . Gimmicks include relationship dedicated managers for any investor or group of investors who will walk the investment journey with him and handle all matters even of regulatory nature and governmental approvals . The NIPFA is the executing arm for the theme of “Startup India “ commencing from the definition of a start up to its registration.An outstanding feature is that gender parity is visible in the agency. The Prime Minister’s Science and Technology initiative is an eye catcher aimed to rope in innovation taking place in the world and at the same time all innovations in the country are  hoisted at the NIPFA platform .Emphasis is on digitization of government functions such as the Prime Minister’s dashboard where he can directly monitor mega foreign investment or sectoral projects through digitization of the entire investment process. Making India a tourism and wellness destination and lately a film content destination is routinely showcased as success stories .Ivy League graduates international investment bankers, sovereign fund managers with finance and banking background flocked to India in droves tolerating huge slashes in their last earned salaries for building a “ New India “. Huge digitization in India has established its democratic credentials ,an unprecedented transformation in the free world today ,reflective of what India is apparently experiencing in terms of scale and pace.

Inclusive FDI

India’s total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to date has been US $ 952 billion and US $ 532 billion entered India in the last 8 years from 162 countries spread across 61 diverse sectors. This underlies the assumption that the world trusts India as FDI is not only about dollars pouring in .It is also about India’s ability to partner and deliver on its commitments. Even in the pandemic lockdown FDI worth of $ 83.5 billion entered India. The FDI is participatory and inclusive as it geographically spans 31 states of the Union and is not confined to big cities . Around 90 % of FDI was through the automatic approval mechanism requiring no government approvals or Central Bank regulatory  permissions.

GDP

India’s GDP currently stands at $ 3.5 trillion and is staggered as the first trillion in 67 years, the second trillion in 8 years and the third trillion in 5 years .After the year 2015 India has edged past France, Russia, Brazil , Italy and UK in terms of GDP and is poised to stroll past Germany.

Maritime FDI

India’s marine fleet strength is 1431 ships as of April 2020. It has 12 major seaports governed by the Federal Government and located on its 7517 km coastline .India  also has 205 recognised small and intermediate ports including inland waterways ports,logistic hubs and terminals . Six of the main seaports are on the eastern board . The average turnaround time or the time between a vessel’s arrival and departure, at major Indian seaports has been slashed from 87 hours in fiscal 2016 to 60 hours in fiscal 2019. India allows up to 100 % FDI under the automatic route for port and harbor construction projects , a ten years tax free regime for companies which develop a port or container terminal, maintenance and its operations.However , no global shipping company has availed this investment option to commence a shipping company in the country. India’s Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways is currently in the process of revising the existing model concession agreement to make it more flexible and attractive to private investors. Under the digital Sagarmala Program India’s maritime ministry is pursuing 802 projects worth Indian Rupees 5.5 trillion this year which includes development of six mega seaports accompanied with world-class infrastructure .

Democratic Digitization

India has 960 million registered voters , 1 million polling booths ,  out of which 600 million voters exercised their right of franchise and significantly 1 million new voters aspiring to be at par with the voter in Singapore or the United States of America. The per capita mobile data consumption in India is more then that of China and the US combined. India had 41 % of global real time international transactions of 48 billion in the year 2021 and in October 2022 it was 8 billion. China came in second at 18 billion global real time international transactions. Every second 3 individuals in India join the internet with 2 hailing from a rural background

The Mistake

India made one fatal error that it stirred up potential competition . China embarked on its developmental journey decades ago and never publicly disclosed or shared its progress.The Chinese economic juggernaut kept rumbling and today is feared by the US and Europe. The Chinese are a patient lot .Indians could not contain their smugness and blurted their achievements and data and the mechanisms and processes employed to attain these goals. The Indians unwittingly have thrown the gauntlet to the regional countries who can simply put adopt , replicate and at a faster pace proceed to travel the digital development path with its deep economic underpinnings . The Indians spent  and wasted their time and money in learning from their mistakes whereas other countries have their digital pathways chartered out whether in tech, blue economy , health tourism or defense industry. A large part of India’s FDI originates from countries with a large diaspora such as Singapore and Mauritius and has ethnic undertones and is not as widespread as the Indians would like the world to believe. Internet usage and consumption in India is socially and not productivity oriented. In maritime FDI India has miserably failed and they seem to equate the internet which is a flashy digital world with the world of shipping, maritime logistics and vibrant ports and container terminals which in the long run keep the costs of freight lower and exports competitive.Maritime development remains hard core development and progress and is substantial in financial terms.The internal rate of return (IRR) on maritime projects is assured at ports and India’s investment bankers have not explored this sector perhaps as this was not a part of the elite capture or glamorous enough. Indian bankers are sea blind.Even exploration of offshore mineral and oil and gas resources and accompanying FDI has not been  upto international benchmarks.Its foray in defense and merchant marine vessel construction has been sporadic, lengthy,technologically backwards and disconnected as it has not realised that it needs to protect its territorial waters to access international sea and trade routes.