ASEAN Summit: Note recall, Aadhaar & GST focus of PM Modi's speech

NEW DELHI: PM Modi on Monday asserted demonetisation and linking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts, two of his government’s marquee policy moves, led to formalisation of the Indian economy and helped increase the ease of doing business in India.

“We are using our unique ID system in financial transactions and taxation for this purpose and the results are already visible,” Modi said at the Asean Business and Investment Summit in Manila on the day two of his three-day visit.

“We are working day and night to ensure good governance. To give you an example, we have started open auction for natural resources, including telecom spectrum, coal mines and other minerals and even private radio channels. This has together contributed about 75 billion US dollars in revenue.”

On FDI, he said: “More than 90% FDI sectors are on automatic approval route. India has emerged as a front-runner in attracting FDI.” “This year in July, we implemented GST. This has done away with a vast range of state and central-level taxes throughout India. This is no small achievement given the vastness and diversity of our country and the federal nature of our polity.”