India on an overdrive, woos investments

By Remitbee - Aug 21, 2020

K.T Jagannathan

A sense of panic has engulfed the world following the outbreak of deadly coronavirus. The virus cases are escalating by the day. Not surprisingly, nation-states across the globe are reconfiguring their operating environment. The border skirmishes with Beijing, in the meanwhile, forced India to accelerate the process of securing its economy. The “Make in India” pitch has acquired a new push in its wake. And, the Government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has gone on an overdrive to woo investment into the country.

A few days ago, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, inaugurated the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard. The online dashboard is envisaged as a one-stop solution for all stakeholders looking for information on infrastructure projects in New India. The dashboard is being hosted on the India Investment Grid (IIG) (www.indiainvestmentgrid.gov.in). IIG is an interactive and dynamic online platform that showcases updated and real-time investment opportunities in the country.

IIG itself is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, and Invest India, the national investment promotion and facilitation agency. The India Investment Grid (IIG) showcases a menu of investment options across India on a single interactive platform. Intended to enhance the ease of doing business, IIG connects potential investors to project promoters across India. It is an interactive web portal, providing information on various projects in India. This will contain information related to investment across states and sectors. IIG is positioned as the first point of contact for investors from around the world. It allows them to view, filter, and choose from projects across various states, sectors, and flagship key Initiatives in India.

Also, it provides project developers a platform to exhibit their projects as viable investment opportunities to an array of potential investors. In a way, it is designed to facilitate the process of project discovery by allowing interactive information sharing on the web portal. Who can benefit from IIG? Investors, project promoters, project developers, technology providers, and others could get on to the portal to discover a solution to their assorted needs. The portal service is free. “The interactive portal of IIG ensures maximum visibility for your projects. Interest generation depends on the level of information provided for projects,” said a note.

There will be independent scrutiny of the information uploaded by participants. “Project information uploaded by promoters is vetted by reputed third-party firms, impaneled by Invest India. The information is cross-checked for logical inconsistencies, data sanity, and for updated information,” the note said further.

The vetting process is currently carried out by Ernst & Young and BDO Consulting.

Well, New Delhi is on a mission mode to woo overseas investment into India.