New Delhi: Hinting at opening up of more sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said areas with high employment potential and strong local talent will be the focus to woo foreign investment and expressed confidence that reform measures like GST and land acquisition bills will be passed in "a matter of time".
On the land bill, which the government wants to push early but has now been referred to a parliamentary committee, he said the government will accept any suggestions that benefit "Gaon, Garib, Kisan (village, poor and farmer)".
In a wide-ranging interview to PTI, Modi asserted that measures already taken in past one year have increased the attractiveness of India as an investment destination and investor confidence has improved.
He also dismissed suggestions of differences between finance ministry and Reserve Bank, saying the Central bank has its functional autonomy which the government will "always respect and preserve".
"Wherever there is high employment potential and wherever we have strong local talent, for example, in research and development: those will be the areas of focus for FDI.
"We have created the National Infrastructure Investment Fund. This is a major step which will increase the flow of foreign investments into all infrastructure sectors, without needing separate sector-by-sector approaches," he said.
Asked whether obstacles to reform measures like Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and amendment to Land Acquisition Bill was hurting the economy, the Prime Minister said both the GST and the proposed Land Acquisition Bill are beneficial for the country.
"The core essence of these Bills should be appreciated by all the parties keeping aside political motives. Long term interest of the nation should be foremost.
"The fact that the States have agreed to the GST design, shows the maturity of our federal system and the GST Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha. It is a matter of time before these laws are passed," he said.
Countering the charge of concentrating powers in PMO, Modi said that increased powers had been delegated to individual ministries with the result that many decisions that earlier needed to come to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet can now be taken by ministries themselves.
He said that the financial delegation for ministries had been trebled and devolution to the states had been increased.
"We have not made any changes in the business rules of the government and decisions are taken by those authorised to take them," he maintained.
On land acquisition bill on which he has been charged by the opposition with favouring the corporates, Modi said that while he did not want to get into political mudslinging, the subject of land was not with the central government which did not require lands. All rights relating to lands are with the states.
"The 120-year-old Land Acquisition Act was amended by the previous government without even 120 minutes of discussion in Parliament. Thinking the bill was good for farmers, we also supported it at that time.
"Later, many complaints came from the states. One should not be so arrogant as to avoid correcting mistakes. So we brought the bill to rectify the errors, that too in response to the demands of the states. Anyone who looks at our proposed amendments without politically-tinted glasses will give us full marks," he said.
Asked if the government was open to suggestions on the bill, the Prime Minister replied, "Gaon (village), Garib (poor), Kisan (farmer)-if the suggestions are favourable to these downtrodden groups and are in the interest of the nation, we will accept those suggestions".
On the economic growth prospects for the current year, Modi said based experience of the last year and the enthusiasm of the people give confidence that all economic indicators will exceed the targets.
"I do not want to undermine the potential and the efforts by giving any figure which may turn out to be too low," he said.
To a question about Opposition accusation that the government was pro-corporates while some in industry like Deepak Parekh say nothing is happening on ground, he said, "The answer is to be found in your question itself. If opponents are accusing us of being pro-corporate but the Corporates are saying we are not helping them, then I take it that our decisions and initiatives are pro-people and in the long term interests of the nation".
On the issue of making progress on the BJP's election promise on stringent action against back blackmoney, he said the very first decision of the Government after taking office was to constitute the Special Investigation Team to pursue black money.
"This step had been pending for years with no action and we executed it in our very first Cabinet meeting. Subsequently, we have also brought a new Bill which will combat black money held abroad and it prescribes stiff penalties.
"Thanks to our efforts, an agreement was reached at the G-20 summit in November 2014 to curb tax evasion and in particular to exchange information between countries. This will help us to trace black money. These are very strong and concrete actions," he said.
To a question on the agrarian crisis in the country, the Prime Minister said suicide by farmers has been a serious concerns for several years.
"Political point-scoring through comparing how many suicides occurred under which government will not solve the problem. For a government of any party, and for every one of us, even one suicide is worrisome," he said.
Modi expressed "great sadness" that mudslinging between the ruling and opposition parties would be unproductive and, respecting the sanctity of Parliament, "we need to collectively find an answer to this issue.
"We need to find where we have gone wrong and why we are not able to solve this over so many years. I have asked all parties for their suggestions to bring contentment and security to our farmers. I want to assure our farmers that this Government will never be found wanting in doing whatever is needed for their welfare," he said.
Stating that there has been a good beginning on bridging the trust deficit between Centre and states, Modi said the experience of Chief Ministers with the Centre over many years has generated an atmosphere of distrust.
"Doodh ka jala chhaachh bhi phook phook kar peeta hai" -once bitten twice shy. Even now there is a lot of mutual suspicion between the Centre and the States as a legacy of the previous decades.
"However, I can say that there has been a good beginning in building trust. The NITI Aayog is acting as a catalyst to build a vibrant Centre-State partnership to take the nation forward. This spirit of partnership and team work is gradually increasing and the fruits will be seen in the coming years," he said.
To a question about criticism that powers are concentrated in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said the government has made major increases in the delegated powers of individual Ministries so that many decisions that earlier needed to come to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet can now be taken by Ministries themselves.
"The financial delegation for ministries has been trebled. Devolution to the states has been increased and states have become full partners in governance through the NITI Aayog.
"All successful and transformational administrations need close coordination across different Ministries and there is nothing unique in it. We have not made any changes in the Business Rules of Government and decisions are taken by those authorised to take them," he added.
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