AA Edit | India’s star bright in Davos
By : AsianAge
Update: 2025-01-27 18:42 GMT
In spite of a slight moderation in the economic growth, India continues to be one of the bright stars in the global economic horizon, as evidenced by the deals that the country clinched at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Indian contingent led by five Union ministers, three Chief Ministers and top business leaders bagged investment commitments worth more than Rs 20 lakh crore.
Maharashtra managed to get the biggest pie of almost 80 per cent investment proposals or 61 memoranda of understanding worth `15.7 lakh crore, with the potential to generate over 16 lakh jobs. It was followed by Telangana, whose delegation led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, got 20 MoUs worth at least `1.80 lakh crore. The major proposal was from Infosys which will create 17,000 jobs in Hyderabad. Unilever will set up two factories in the southern state.
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh too made their presence felt at the annual meeting of the global economic elite.
Most agreements entered into at WEF centred on data centres, green energy, and advanced technologies, reflecting the changing industrial landscape. These deals are expected to create over 50,000 jobs, which predominantly will be based in Telangana.
Though the deals hog headlines, the World Economic Forum should not be seen in the narrow sense. No entrepreneur makes a call on large investments merely based on their interaction with government officials for five days. The WEF is a forum for governments to pitch investment opportunities in their countries and investment decisions could happen later. WEF also gives governments an opportunity to understand the requirements of the companies, and appropriately change their regulatory mechanisms to attract new capital.
The Central government should in fact organise Indian Economic Forum in major developing countries in active partnership with state governments to attract new investments.