Take one step, we'll take two: Modi's message to the world at 'Make in India' launch

Make India your centre if you want this century to be your century.

It was with such messages that Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to woo global leaders and industry giants to invest in India while opening the Make in India Week at the Bandra-Kurla Complex here on Saturday.

In Modi's own words, it is "the biggest multi-sectoral event and exhibition ever held in India."

If you want statistical proof, here it is: over 2,500 international and 8,000 domestic companies, foreign government delegations from 68 countries and business teams from 72 nations.

And for the star value, there were the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland and the deputy premier of Poland, not to mention the cabinet ministers from many other countries.

Before this powerful crowd, Modi pitched India's case in his characteristic style. There were the one-liners and the Modi coinages.

How about a sample? "India is blessed with three Ds – democracy, demography and demand. To this, we have added the fourth D – deregulation."

Then he showed the world India's greatest strength. "The youthful energy of 65% population, under the age of 35 years, is our greatest strength."

By stressing on the country's ease-of-doing business initiatives and reforms, Modi projected India before the world with great finesse. Presenting figures, he explained to the star audience why the India story is today's the most attractive one.

"India is the most open country for FDI. Most FDI sectors have been put on the automatic approval route. Our FDI inflows have gone up by 48% since the day my government came into office. In fact, FDI inflow in December 2015 was the highest ever in this country. This, at a time when global FDI has fallen substantially," the Prime Minister said.

He listed the measures taken by his government and said that they had led to the economy sprouting green shoots of recovery amidst a climate of global gloom.

"We are working aggressively to... make India a global manufacturing hub," said Modi, adding they wanted to take the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25%.

At the end of Modi's speech, and as if impressed by what he said, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said: "Sweden wants to be part of the transformation of the Indian economy, or to put it short, let's make in India."

He said areas like innovation, which had made Swedish companies competitive and helped develop Swedish Internet applications like Skype, and sustainability, which could help tackle environmental challenges and achieve economic growth simultaneously, held a possibility for Indo-Swedish cooperation.

Modi also list the measures his government was taking to allay global investor fears. "We have carried out a number of corrections on the taxation front. We will not resort to retrospective taxation," he said.

"The results are encouraging. India has become the fastest growing economy in the world," he said, adding that the current fiscal would end with well over 7% growth in GDP.

The IMF, World Bank, OECD, ADB and other institutions have projected even better growth in the coming days. In 2014-15, India contributed 12.5% to global growth. Other indicators like India being constantly ranked as the most attractive investment destination by several institutions, jumping 12 ranks in the World Bank's ease- of-doing-business rankings and Moody's upgrading India's rating to positive were also significant, Modi noted.

Calling Maharashtra "the powerhouse of India," chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Maharashtra accounted for 15% of the GDP, the highest exports and FDI inflows.

Fadnavis said the Make in India initiative had changed the outlook of the country and created an atmosphere of healthy competition between states with competitive federalism replacing cooperative federalism. This was leading to states complementing each other and making India a strong destination for manufacturing.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister of state for commerce and industry, said Modi had said that "India shall no longer be known as a country of red tape, it shall be known for red carpet and spreading of red carpet for anyone who wants to come in to invest or to manufacture in this country."

Modi's "extensive tours" to several country had led to Brand India becoming a respectable word and India finding itself a place at the high table. As a result, FDI into India has grown by 48% while all over the world it has taken a dip by 16%, she said.

Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said: "Renewable energy is the call of the future. India needs it, Finland needs it, the world needs it," even as he hailed Modi for his green energy push.

If there was a message in all this, it was this: the world wants India and wants to Make in India.

There is no time for incremental changes, we want a quantum jump.