India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India is not only looking for being the ‘plus one’ which the world is looking for in the ‘China+1’, but also pitching to become the ‘plus one’ for the ‘European Union+1 (EU+1)’.
“People who invested in China may want to continue there but may also want to find another source from where they can produce and be a part of the global world. We are actively making sure to become the ‘Plus 1’ of the ‘China+1’ which the world is looking for,” the minister told an audience of overseas Indians on Tuesday.
“Similarly, we are also working to make sure that India becomes the plus one for EU+1,” she said, addressing the plenary session on harnessing the potential of women diaspora entrepreneurs on the concluding day of ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Divas’ convention in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
India’s efforts are to make sure to attract the industries to come up to India if they look for elsewhere other than in Europe, Sitharaman said.
Sitharaman also exhorted the Indian diaspora to partner with Indian businesses whether it is nano, small, micro, or large so that they get their potential in entrepreneurial skills to grow by 2047.
“If you buy a car anywhere in the world, at least one product in it is made in India. Major global capacity centers are also being set up in India like Lockheed Martin Corporation is producing wings of F-16 fighter jets in India and exporting it to the assembly points. Similarly, Airbus has also planned to manufacture the C-295 aircrafts in Gujarat,” she said.
The minister also quoted examples of country’s IT power and development in semiconductor chip designing.
“It is not just low cost production but high-tech manufacturing is also happening in the country,” the minister added.
Speaking on the contribution of the Indian diaspora in the development of the country’s economy, Sitharaman said that Indians are not only contributing to the country’s economy but also to the world’s economy.
“The remittance which came from abroad in 2022 is about $100 billion. It was the highest remittance to India in a year which also sees a growth of 12 percent from 2021 to 2022. Similarly, a NASSCOM (Indian IT industry body) report says that we are contributing to the economic growth of the US too as the Indian IT companies have recorded a business of $396 billion and contributed $198 billion in the US economy,” the finance minister said.
The minister said the country is looking forward to four ‘I’s to grow in the next 25 years – Infrastructure, Investment, Innovations, and Inclusion.
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