GE chairman and CEO Jeffery Immelt on Monday flagged reforming the Indian bureaucracy as one of the biggest changes that he would want to see in the country , saying some regulations are not conducive to massive investment required in the economy . At the same time, he is enthused by the steps that the Narendra Modi government has taken to attract manufacturing into the country .Immelt, who was in the Capital on a whistle-stop trip to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told TOI that things are beginning to change but reforming a permanent bureaucracy , such as the one in India, is tough.
“We just have to reform the bureaucracy . The regulation is just not conducive to the massive kind of investment that needs to be made in the country and as a part of that you just need to open transparent markets. That's what the government has to do and that's the promise,“ he said, adding that businesses too have to do their bit to create jobs and improving the quality of life for the people.
Addressing reporters, earlier in the day , he outlined top sectors including railways, renewable energy , oil and gas, healthcare and military aviation, which he thought would attract GE's investments into the country . Although he refused to disclose quantum of investment planned into India, he said, “Four to five big projects can change the face of the company in India...I see more big opportunities now than ever before,“ the head of the $148 billion company said.
Immelt said the kind of optimism and hope riding on Modi stands out globally and added that sometimes frustration in certain quarters was a result of the huge expectations from the PM, which is at times tough to manage. “There is no perfect environment anywhere. You don't get total perfection in the US, Europe or China.“
Although the 59-year-old CEO is upbeat on the growth strategy charted out by the government, he said there was a need for better pricing in the oil and gas sector, besides lowering power subsidies. Asked if the problems in China is an opportunity for India, Immelt said, “ India has a huge opportunity , irrespective of China. For us, it's China and India and not China or India.“ Immelt said GE would focus on manufacturing, having moved from setting up engineering centres, investing in a BPO and sourcing talent. In addition, the conglomerate is looking at India as a major contributor to its industrial internet business, which seeks to help GE develop in-house capability to meet the software requirements of its businesses. This unit generates around $6 billion revenues annually and is growing at around 20%. For GE, which has 21 plants in India, including 11 which it got as part of the takeover of Alstom, resulting in a combined output of $2.5 billion (over Rs 16,000 crore). Railways is perhaps the single biggest opportunity with Immelt closely watching the outcome of the tender for building a locomotive unit that has been bid out several times in the past but is yet to be awarded.
`Pursuing reforms for higher growth'
Hong Kong: Wooing foreign investors with the promise of easier conditions for doing business, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said continuing reforms will push India's economic growth higher than last year's 7.3 per cent despite adverse global winds. On the last day of his four-day visit to Singapore and Hong Kong, Jaitley said he thinks India has the potential to be the bright spot even in somewhat gloomier situation.However, he expressed concern over low rate of growth in the agriculture sector, Jaitley said “the rain Gods have not been as kind“ to this government as they were to the earlier ones. He said weak agriculture sector is posing a challenge, but the government is committed to improving its performance while better results from other areas of economy can still ensure the growth rate improves further. PTI
“We just have to reform the bureaucracy . The regulation is just not conducive to the massive kind of investment that needs to be made in the country and as a part of that you just need to open transparent markets. That's what the government has to do and that's the promise,“ he said, adding that businesses too have to do their bit to create jobs and improving the quality of life for the people.
Addressing reporters, earlier in the day , he outlined top sectors including railways, renewable energy , oil and gas, healthcare and military aviation, which he thought would attract GE's investments into the country . Although he refused to disclose quantum of investment planned into India, he said, “Four to five big projects can change the face of the company in India...I see more big opportunities now than ever before,“ the head of the $148 billion company said.
Immelt said the kind of optimism and hope riding on Modi stands out globally and added that sometimes frustration in certain quarters was a result of the huge expectations from the PM, which is at times tough to manage. “There is no perfect environment anywhere. You don't get total perfection in the US, Europe or China.“
Although the 59-year-old CEO is upbeat on the growth strategy charted out by the government, he said there was a need for better pricing in the oil and gas sector, besides lowering power subsidies. Asked if the problems in China is an opportunity for India, Immelt said, “ India has a huge opportunity , irrespective of China. For us, it's China and India and not China or India.“ Immelt said GE would focus on manufacturing, having moved from setting up engineering centres, investing in a BPO and sourcing talent. In addition, the conglomerate is looking at India as a major contributor to its industrial internet business, which seeks to help GE develop in-house capability to meet the software requirements of its businesses. This unit generates around $6 billion revenues annually and is growing at around 20%. For GE, which has 21 plants in India, including 11 which it got as part of the takeover of Alstom, resulting in a combined output of $2.5 billion (over Rs 16,000 crore). Railways is perhaps the single biggest opportunity with Immelt closely watching the outcome of the tender for building a locomotive unit that has been bid out several times in the past but is yet to be awarded.
`Pursuing reforms for higher growth'
Hong Kong: Wooing foreign investors with the promise of easier conditions for doing business, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said continuing reforms will push India's economic growth higher than last year's 7.3 per cent despite adverse global winds. On the last day of his four-day visit to Singapore and Hong Kong, Jaitley said he thinks India has the potential to be the bright spot even in somewhat gloomier situation.However, he expressed concern over low rate of growth in the agriculture sector, Jaitley said “the rain Gods have not been as kind“ to this government as they were to the earlier ones. He said weak agriculture sector is posing a challenge, but the government is committed to improving its performance while better results from other areas of economy can still ensure the growth rate improves further. PTI
(Source- TOI)
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