The foreign direct investment (FDI) in India has been growing as it has become a trustworthy destination for the world under the government led by PM Narendra Modi, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2024.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan, Vaishnaw shed light on the rising interest of mobile ecosystem partners, especially component manufacturers, to set up their production units in India.
He forecasts a triple-fold increase in the production units in the mobile manufacturing sector. Vaishnaw added that manufacturing will be the key focus in PM Modi’s third term if the BJP comes to power in the centre yet again.
Vaishaw said, "We have today about close to $50 billion in production, and close to $12 billion or $13 billion in exports this year. So in the coming years, we should be seeing at least three times this.”
As Google announced on Thursday, February 22, its decision to begin manufacturing Pixel smartphones in India in the second quarter of the financial year 2024–25, Vaishnaw added that the government is working on multiple simplifications to attract mobile manufacturing companies to set up their manufacturing units in India.
Foreign companies in the sector are holding talks with Indian partners, scouting for locations and land to set up their manufacturing units in the country as the government has simplified tariff rates.
However, when questioned about the decrease in FDI over the previous year, Vaishnaw stressed focusing on the trend line instead of “getting into the fallacy of the immediate period." He said that the FDI trend line is moving towards $100 billion.
88% of the railway capex target achieved
The Railways Minister pointed out that the ministry has utilised 88% of the ₹2,42,000 crore capital expenditure budget allotted for FY24, as of Thursday. In the interim budget announced on February 1, the government has increased the capex budget only slightly for the sector to ₹2,54,000 crore.
The railways are expanding at a massive pace of 15 kilometers per day, emphasised Vaishnaw and said, "Last year we added one Switzerland, this year we are adding another Switzerland, and next year we'll probably be adding more than that."
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