Ordinance route no concern for investors; they are happy: Arun Jaitley

DAVOS: Terming political opposition to ordinance route for reforms as 'obstructionism', Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the foreign investors have no problems with these decisions and they were rather happy that the government has brought in legislations.

"I don't think that ordinance route is an issue for them at all. They are all extremely happy that the government of India has brought in a legislation. The approval of the ordinance is a matter of cause.

"Actions taken under the ordinance are deemed to be valid and at the end of the day, everyone knows that both in the lower house and also in the joint house we have the numbers and therefore the obstructionists can only delay.

"The obstructionists cannot derail it," Jaitley said amid a series of meetings he is having here on the sidelines of WEF with existing and potential investors.

The Minister said that the investors across sectors are very enthused about India and were waiting to come in.

To a question on by when he expects investments to pick up, Jaitley said: "We are quite close to that point because there are a large number of investors who are waiting to come in and they only want to be doubly sure about the credibility of the decision making process and the stability of the policies."

"Banks, insurance companies, manufacturing companies and technology companies all are looking at India. Of Course some of them do have issues, but uniformly all of them are enthusiastic about the changes that are taking place in India.

"The government has made its intention very clear about the roadmap that it wishes to pursue. Some have individual issues and I think meeting them here adds to the comfort of investing in India," he added.

On whether a joint session of Parliament could be called to clear reforms, Jaitley said: "I am not saying it is a possibility as I hope that the situation does not arise.

"Also, don't forget since this government came to power there has been seven state elections and we have won most of them. Along with our ally, we won Andhra Pradesh election, J&K is a divided house and we did extremely well.

"BJD won Odissa elections that is a party that is pro reforms. TRS won Telangana elections and that party is also certainly not obstructing any reforms. All seven, Delhi is 8th which is going to polls, states have shown that the obstructionists have lost everywhere. This is a signal the global investors are closely watching," he added.

On response that India has got here at Davos during World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Jaitley said the vibes are all positive on India.

"There is a huge amount of curiosity about India. Foreign governments are taking India very seriously. Many important government representatives are having bilateral meetings with us here and many of the biggest corporations have also met us.

"They are looking at India as a possible destination where they can expand their activity or enter India if they are not already there. Most of the queries have been in that direction," he said.

Asked whether he was satisfied with his three-day visit, ending today, the Finance Minister said,"From India's point of view, it has been eventful, because the world has taken note of India.

"Not only in bilateral meetings we had with multinational companies and the foreign governments here but the fact is also that the Indian programmes have been packed, people have been wanting to meet us and listen to us.

"Two chief ministers of very important states are here, the Power Minister is here, chief economic advisor is here. All of us have our programmes full."