India received foreign investment of $20 billion amid pandemic: PM Modi at India-Idea's summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his virtual keynote address at the India-Idea's summit on Wednesday, said there is global optimism towards India because it offers a perfect combination of openness, opportunities and options for those seeking to do business here. He also said that even during the pandemic, India attracted foreign investment of over $20 billion between April and July.

Calling USA and India natural partners, he said this partnership can play an important role in helping the world bounce back faster after the pandemic. Reaching out to the American investors, he said that there has never been a better time to invest in India.

In the last six years, efforts have been undertaken to make our economy more open and reform-oriented, adding that reforms have ensured competitiveness, transparency, digitisation, greater innovation and policy stability, the PM said.

He said there are now more rural internet users than urban internet users. Hailing India as a land of opportunities, the PM said there are about half a billion active internet users in the country now.

The PM also talked about the need to place the poor and the vulnerable at the core of the growth agenda. He said 'Ease of Living' is as important as 'Ease of Business' and that the pandemic had reminded people of the importance of resilience of the global economy against external shocks, which can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities.

India is contributing towards a prosperous and resilient world through the clarion call of an 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', he said.

The PM also underlined that there were extensive opportunities to invest in many sectors in India. He talked about the recently undertaken reforms in agriculture, saying there are opportunities to invest in areas including agriculture inputs and machinery, agriculture supply chain, food processing sector, fisheries and organic produce. He added that now was the best time to expand investment in the Indian healthcare sector as it was growing faster than 22% every year.

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