PM Narendra Modi lures German business honchos; hard-sells 'Make in India' programme

HANOVER: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a mission to hard-sell his pet Make in India programme.

In Germany as part of a three-nation tour, the PM invited German business people to participate in India’s growth stride by investing more in manufacturing and infrastructure, and offered them a conducive business environment.

Addressing an Indo-German business summit on Monday in Hanover, where he also attended the Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair, the Prime Minister asked German businessmen to “come and feel” the change in India’s regulatory environment. “Please do not go by old perceptions,” he said.

His speech continued the theme from the previous evening, as he listed out India’s efforts to make doing business easier, and said the government is focused on encouraging innovation, research and entrepreneurship. On Sunday, addressing an event organised as part of the Hannover fair, he promised to protect intellectual property rights and make policies predictive, trying to allay two of the biggest concerns of foreign investors.

German drug makers like Bayer and Boehringer Ingleheim, and auto maker BMW are some of the companies facing issues over patents and taxes in India.



At a dinner hosted by Merkel on Sunday, the chancellor sought “equal treatment” for German companies in India vis-à-vis local businesses.

Chief executives of Volkswagen, Daimler and Siemens, as well as Tata Group’s Cyrus Mistry and Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge were among a select group of businessmen who were invited to the dinner.

German businessmen posed questions over issues such as availability of infrastructure and 24-hour quality power supply, said a person who attended the dinner.

On Monday, Modi said the government was committed to creating and improving India’s business environment, as he highlighted measures such as removing lot of “regressive” taxation regimes. “Our regulatory regime is much more transparent, responsive and stable.

We are taking a long-term and futuristic view on the issues,” he said.

Germany ranks eighth among foreign investor countries in India. Its direct investment in India during January-November 2014 was $995 million (Rs 6,200 crore). It is India’s largest trading partner in the EU – with bilateral trade of around ¤16 billion (Rs 1.06 lakh crore) – and one of the top ten global trading partners. The Prime Minister said there was more potential.

“Though we have a vibrant relationship, our economic partnership is not as much as both countries would like to have,” he said.

“The flow of investments from Germany is well below the potential and less than Indian investments in Germany,” he said.

The Prime Minister said there was already a change in investor sentiment. Foreign investment inflows have gone up by 36% during April-2014 and January-2015, compared with a year earlier, he said.

(This correspondent is in Germany on an invitation from Siemens India)