PM Narendra Modi says current German investment in India less than potential, calls for more

HANOVER: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged German businesses to invest more in India, saying that they weren’t currently tapping the potential the country offers.

"The flow of investment from Germany is less than its potential and less than the investment by Indian companies in Germany," Modi said while speaking at an India-Germany business summit. "Let us work together for our mutual benefit."

India’s efforts to upgrade and build airports and seaports and set up smart cities offer opportunities for Germany, the Prime Minister said.

Germany is the eighth largest foreign investor in India. Its foreign direct investments in India during January-November 2014 was $995 million (Rs 6,200 crore).

In Germany as part of his three-nation tour, which also comprises France and Canada, Modi painted India as an attractive investment destination on Sunday while addressing businessmen from India and Germany at Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair.

To an audience that comprised Chancellor Angela Merkel and top executives of German corporate giants such as Siemens, Daimler and Volkswagen, he said his government moved with speed as well as created confidence at home and abroad.

To make it easier to do business in India, he said, the government will avoid "surprise element" in policies and protect intellectual property, two of the biggest concerns foreign investors say they have in India.