G P Hinduja praises PM Narendra Modi, says he changed face of India

LONDON: Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating an investment-friendly environment, NRI industrialist G P Hinduja today said India must be prepared to make most of the new opportunities that are opening up.

"Modi's government has definitely changed the face of India. He has a good vision, he is moving in the right direction but we should not expect things to happen overnight," he told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

"With absolute majority and the vision Mr Modi has, he has created a good environment for investment. Now each and every leader of the world wants to go to India and invest. But I want to alert India, if they lose this opportunity and if they are not ready at home, again this opportunity will be lost," he cautioned.

In a reference to the India-UK relationship, Hinduja, who describes himself as "British but I have India in my heart", had a message for the next British Prime Minister who comes to power after May 7 general elections.

He said: "There are 1.6 million people of Indian origin who they call NRIs in India and British Indians here. They have the maximum knowledge of doing business in India but they have not been leveraged.

"My strong recommendation to the new Prime Minister, whoever comes, should try and see how they can use this NRI talent pool which exists in Britain if we want to get an edge over European countries."

Hinduja said he was looking forward to the upcoming centenary of Hinduja Group, which was founded by his father in 1919.

"He always believed that the best investment was in property and the surplus money he always invested in property. He was of the opinion that it was the best asset which will keep appreciating," he recalled, explaining his decision to put in a bid to acquire former British PM Winston Churchill's Old War Office Building in the heart of London in December 2014.

It will now be converted into a hotel and luxury flats with an estimated combined value of about £1 billion.

"Once it is completed, which will take about four years, each and every human being who visits that place will feel proud. That is my vision and I hope God will help me achieve that vision," he said.