National

Create investor-friendly climate: Pant

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 8. With a view to marketing the country as a better destination for investment, an investor-friendly environment must be created doing away with pervasive controls, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K.C. Pant, said here today.

"Controls and restrictions have retarded the investor-friendly climate in the country. We must shed the mindset of shortages that had given birth to this regime of pervasive controls and create an environment which welcomes entrepreneurship with open arms," Mr. Pant said at a meet organised here by TIE, a non-profit professional organisation of entrepreneurs of Indian origin settled abroad.

For establishing a rightful place globally, any country would need a distinct image and, in this context, entrepreneurs in India and abroad need to get together to ensure a seamless interface with the rest of the world. ''The image of our country struggling with poverty and beset by terrorism does not inspire confidence in its ability to meet the demands of global economy," he said. Stating that the Indian diaspora has been a window to the world both in terms of technology and bridging cultural gaps, Mr. Pant said the IT revoltion would bring the Indian entrepreneurs abroad back home to initiate a new beginning.

Rajiv Ratan Shah, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, said the infotech industry, the hardware sector in particular, needed to be given a conducive tax environment.

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