Modi says India is committed to reforms, calls for global effort on cryptocurrencies

NEW DELHI - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to woo investors by promising that the fastest-growing economy in the world was committed to reforms, and called for a collective global effort to deal with the problems posed by cryptocurrencies.

Mr Modi, in his address at the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda online conference on Monday (Jan 17), noted that India was successfully moving ahead with its economic agenda despite fighting a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"India is fighting cautiously and vigilantly a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, on the economic front, India is moving forward with many results that give us hope," he said.

India's economic growth is predicted to be 8.3 per cent in the current financial year and 8.7 per cent in the period 2022 to 2023, according to World Bank's recently released Global Economic Prospects report.

With an eye on investors, the Indian Prime Minister also focused on his government reforms agenda and said that the Indian economy provided opportunities for foreign investors in many sectors and areas, including in the field of semiconductors.

"It is the best time to invest in India... India's commitment to deep economic reforms is another big reason why today India has remained the most attractive destination for investment during the Covid-19 pandemic," said Mr Modi.

He highlighted the decision last year to do away with the retrospective tax that had resulted in multiple legal wrangles worth billions of dollars as a key step to improving ease of doing business.

"Today, India is promising ease of doing business. It is bringing government intervention down to a minimum by simplifying and reducing corporate tax... in just the last year, we have done away with 25,000 compliances by carrying out reforms."

Underlining how India's business and tech sectors had performed, he noted that over five million software developers were working in India and the country had more than 80 unicorns - the third-largest number in the world - of which more than 40 were set up in 2021. It also had 10,000 start-ups registered in the last six months alone.

At a time when countries are trying to diversify their supply chains, Mr Modi noted that India could play a key role in strengthening these global supply chains.

In his address, Mr Modi also called for a collective global effort to deal with the problems posed by cryptocurrenices.

"The kind of technology it is associated with, the decision taken by a single country will be insufficient to deal with its challenges. We have to have a similar mindset," he said.

India's central bank has voiced concerns over digital currencies, saying that they may impact financial stability.

New Delhi had previously flagged that it planned to ban most cryptocurrencies, a move that would follow recent measures by China.

India has more than 100 million cryptocurrency owners, according to BrokerChooser, a broker discovery and comparison platform. They hold crypto assets worth more than US$5.3 billion (S$7.1 billion), according to The Economic Times.

Mr Modi also said India is working on signing free trade agreements with many countries.

India recently announced the start of free trade talks with Britain, with the intent of signing a deal by the end of this year.

In his speech, the Indian leader also reiterated India's commitment to fight climate change.

At the COP26 summit last year, India - the world's third-biggest source of greenhouse gases - had committed to bring carbon emissions to net zero by 2070 and increase the share of renewables in electricity generation.

Mr Modi said the country was 100 per cent committed to fighting climate change.

"India's growth period for the next 25 years will be green and clean, and also sustainable and reliable," he said.