Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri attended breakfast session in Davos with Indian Diaspora. "We discussed ways to channelise their social capital to promote philanthropy & entrepreneurship to benefit India," said Puri in a tweet. "India is moving faster than any other country 2wards a green transition. We are taking advantage of the current energy crisis to accelerate this transition," tweets Puri. (Image: Twitter @FollowCII)
As the world teeters on the brink of a recession, India has emerged as a bright spot at the World Economic Forum in Davos with its strong macroeconomic credentials and investment-friendly policies.
India’s presence at the WEF is testament to its arrival on the world stage with China now taking a backseat not just because of the slowdown induced by the strict virus controls but also because of structural flaws in its property market and the tech crackdown.
Global leaders and noted economists were all praise for India’s strong ability to attract global investments amid a churning in the supply chains with its policies like PLI.
Noted economist Kenneth Rogoff said India's economy will perform better than its emerging economy peers and the China will no longer be the growth engine of the world.
Big-ticket deals were signed between states and investors. Maharashtra has signed MoUs worth Rs 1.37 lakh crore at WEF, Davos, PTI quoted chief minister Eknath Shinde as saying. These non-binding MoUs span areas like electric vehicles, steel, infrastructure among others.
Maharashtra chief minister expressed optimism that these investments will fructify and lead to job creation in the state.
The state also signed an agreement with Gogoro and Belrise to build battery swapping infrastructure across the state.
Telangana signed an agreement with Allox Advance Materials Pvt Ltd for setting up of a C-LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) active battery material production unit with an initial investment of Rs 210 crore.
These deals have affirmed India’s strong ability to be new age energy leader and emerge as a major hub for clean energy.
Power minister R K Singh, speaking to CNBC-TV18 at the World Economic Forum, said that India has achieved renewable energy targets nine years ahead of time.
“We already (have) one of the largest renewable energy capacities in the world. Our rate of our energy transition is the fastest in the world. We achieved our end. This is a good nine years in advance,” Singh said.
IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath hailed India’s digital and physical infrastructure prowess and called for reforms in land and labour markets.
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan also called for a renewed focus on services exports for driving economic growth and utilising G20 presidency to push for more openness in global services trade.
There were big bang announcements from India Inc also. Tata Group will invest $90 billion over the next 5 years in India, its chairman N Chandrasekaran said.
Siemens also expressed optimism about investing in India.
“We are not sure when, how much, and where the impacts of the recession will be seen. It will not be the same everywhere around the world…And talking about India, I do see continued investment. So I'm carefully optimistic for India, but also for the global economy,” said Matthias Rebellius, Member, Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure.
Hitachi India Manging Director Bharat Kaushal, who spoke exclusively to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, said India is emerging as a base to do business outside India.
“India is increasingly emerging as a base to do business outside India, especially in capital goods, where the government has launched a lot of incentives for technology transfer, and also funding it, allowing you to keep the IPR [intellectual property rights] — these are very significant steps,” he said.
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