The following is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister:

I extend a very warm welcome to all of you – the delegates who have come from various parts of the world to attend this meeting of Global Indian Entrepreneurs. You have gathered here at a time of change and challenge, hope and opportunities for your motherland.  For nearly 200 years now, Indians have sailed to distant shores in search of employment and trade. Many, the forefathers of some of you, settled where they worked. The conditions in the early days of migration were neither easy nor happy, but they worked hard and diligently, some of them displayed their inherent entrepreneurship and established themselves in businesses. Early migrants went to Canada, America and China and wherever there was British colonial presence. Over the years the profile of migrants has changed.

We still provide skilled labour to the Gulf states and to other areas in the Middle East, but now a more important segment comprises of professionals, teachers, scientists, computer engineers and programmers, doctors, managers, bankers and even gurus who are being acclaimed in areas of top management and creative thought. Similarly, in trade and industry, many businessmen of Indian origin have developed entrepreneurial skills, which their host countries are finding valuable to their economies. We recognise and applaud these luminaries on their success. I am particularly happy that some of those who have distinguished themselves in this regard are in our midst today.

In the last fifty years India has developed certain competitive advantages – these include a large technical and scientific manpower base, fairly well developed infrastructure, a large network of banks, a well-established capital market, and a good educational system. India has always had a substantial private sector, active in all areas of the economy. A vibrant part of Indian initiative is manifested in the small-scale sector. This comprises thousands of small industrial units scattered around the country.

The Indian corporate sector is large and diversified, with a mix of ownership in public, private and co-operative sectors, and small, medium and large-sized enterprises. Our legal system is fair and just and we have the advantage of being a part of the English-speaking world. These factors make India a good destination.  We are all aware of the recent crisis, which have affected the economies of South East Asia, and Russia. Even Japan is facing difficulties. At the same time, we may note the fact that our country remained by and large unaffected by these economic disturbances. This speaks well of the resilience our economy has developed over the years. Despite being part of the globalisation process, our fundamentals remained strong and helped us to stay on course and prevented any major macro-economic imbalances.

The management of our economy, especially the economic element, received your approval by your magnificent support to State Bank of India Resurgent India Bonds, which fetched 4.2 billion US Dollars in August this year. This is also a clear manifestation of your continuing commitment and support to the country. It demonstrates your appreciation of the economic outlook for the future. Significantly, these subscriptions to the Bond are in addition to the savings of more than 20 billion US Dollars, which the NRI’s continue to maintain in a variety of instruments they hold in India.

More significantly, a sum of about twelve billion US Dollars has come in each of the last two fiscal years as direct remittance from Indians abroad. I need hardly emphasise how useful a role these resources have been playing in our economic development efforts.   In the last seven to eight months since my government took office, we have taken several initiatives aimed at revitalising economic growth, promoting strong infrastructure development and bringing about an Information Technology revolution within the country. Several of these measures are already under implementation. In certain other cases legislative bills will need to receive parliamentary approval next month. The direction, however, is clear. Economic reforms are here to stay and, if any thing; the process is being accelerated.

We all appreciate the crucial importance of infrastructure in our development process. Towards this end we have taken a number of decisions :-

Plan outlay for the power sector has been significantly stepped up this year.

The scope of automatic approval for foreign direct investment in power has been liberalised by placing foreign equity participation upto 100 per cent on the automatic approval route, provided the foreign equity in any such project does not exceed Rs.1500 crores.

The procedure for issue of counter-guarantee to eligible private power projects has been simplified, and counter guarantees have recently been issued to three projects – Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Neyveli in Tamil Nadu, and Bhadravati in Maharashtra.

The Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998 has been enacted to provide for the establishment of Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, rationalisation of electricity tariff and transparent policies regarding subsidies. The Central Commission has begun functioning. The process of setting up State level Commissions is on in various States.

The Electricity Laws (Amendment) Act, 1998 has been enacted to co-ordinate the operation of the grid system and allow greater flow of resources in the transmission sector.

In the Petroleum & Natural Gas sector, Government has decided to sign Production Sharing Contracts with private parties for 18 exploration blocks covering an area of over 50,000 square kilometres.

Bids will be invited shortly under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, for which the way has been paved with the introduction of a liberalised royalty regime.

The Government will offer blocks to private and national oil companies for the exploration and exploitation of Coal Bed Methane, which is in abundance in India.

The process of Pricing Reforms in the Petroleum sector is being carried forward by initiating the dismantling of Administrated Pricing Mechanism in phases from April 1, 1998. This will provide the right environment for a faster and more efficient growth of the sector.

A good network of roads and highways is imperative for attaining and sustaining high growth rates. The Government will start within this year and from 20 different places across the country one of the biggest Civil Engineering programmes of our times. It envisages a 6-Lane East-West and North-South corridor covering 7000 Kms and estimated to cost Twenty Eight thousand crore rupees. This project will have scope for maximum private sector and foreign participation.

The 6-lane corridor project has attracted a lot of comment, and some cynicism. Some have called it a dream, adding that dreams are not supposed to materialise into reality! I beg to differ. And yes, it is a dream; a 7000 km., 6-lane corridor linking Silchar in the North East to Saurashtra in the West and Kashmir to Kanyakumari is a magnificent dream. A dream for India. If you don’t dream, how will your dreams come true? Questions have been raised about the financing involving Twenty eight thousand crore of rupees. For a nation that saves more than three lakh crore rupees per years, a country that imports nearly twenty eight thousand crores worth gold, largely for savings, has ample resources for several projects of this scale and dimension.

The North-South-East-West corridor when completed will save Fifteen thousand crores rupees a year just by way of petroleum products saved, and a like amount in wear and tear of vehicles and life and limb of drivers, not taking into account the time saved and efficiency achieved in transportation of goods. We have the will and the means and the technical know-how to undertake this project and it will move in the direction I outlined in a speech to FICCI on October 24, 1998.

I would like to remind you that the Bhakhra Dam was viewed as an impossible dream in the early 50s; more recently, the tunnel under the English Channel linking Britain and France was considered both a technical and a financial impossibility. We will in the near future create financial instruments to channelise your savings and investments in this grand development project.

There are enormous employment and investment opportunities in India’s information technology sector, which is the fastest growth segment of India’s economy. My Government is committed to speeding up its growth. The first report of the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development containing 108 recommendations has been accepted. Many of the recommendations have now been notified. They will remove the bottlenecks that had constrained this sector from growth even faster. The second report, devoted to strengthening India’s hardware sector is with the Government – it will soon be considered. The recently announced policy for Internet Service Providers, probably the most liberal in the world, will add momentum to India’s IT growth.  Telecommunications is a vital infrastructure for the development of the economy. We have taken a series of measures to open this sector for private investment and provide a level playing field. We shall announce a new Telecom Policy soon to achieve a quantum jump in this sector. The Global Mobile Personal Communications Service has already been permitted and the Iridium project has been launched on November 1, as scheduled. It is worth noting that out of four thousand crore of rupees foreign direct investment inflow in Telecom since 1991, almost 50% has come during this year. This is an indication of the immense investment opportunities and the improving investment climate in this sector.

Government has often been criticised, and rightly so, for being long on policy pronouncements and short on implementation. We shall endeavour to correct this imbalance. Time bound implementation of all decisions shall be demanded and obtained. Government shall enforce accountability for laxity and delay. Effective inter-ministerial co-ordination shall be ensured so that important policies are quickly translated into action. You shall not find us wanting in this regard.  The sustainability of economic reforms is crucially dependent on equitable distribution of the benefits of growth. We have no doubt that we have to cut through the volumes of complex regulations which we have accumulated over the last 50 years, reduce political and administrative interference and allow the innate entrepreneurial abilities of the Indian people to flower. The need for a leaner and more efficient bureaucracy, curtailment of government expenditure, a transparent and targeted subsidy regime, and commercially viable public sector cannot be overlooked. We recognise that increased competition brings in greater efficiency, lower cost of production and provides more and better goods and services to consumers. However, the Government also appreciates that a more market-oriented and less regulated regime does not imply an abdication by the State of its responsibility towards the poor and the disadvantaged. Our policies and programmes will adequately reflect both these crucial concerns.

Sustainability of reforms in any country is also critically linked to the popular support-base of such reforms. The support-base would be fast eroded if reforms fail to deliver broad-based employment generating growth and make a perceptible dent on poverty. In this context, I am happy to say that reforms in India have indeed been successful not only in preserving this popular support base but in strengthening it further. In the largest democracy in the world, reforms have not only stayed on course but also actually accelerated even with changes in popularly elected governments. This is not only an adequate testimony to the popular base of reform in India, but also a guarantee of the continuity of reforms in the future.

NRIs as well as persons of Indian origin residing abroad frequently wonder, often aloud, as to why Indians who perform so well in so many fields abroad, falter at home. Of course, the questioning is about the environment here, at home. The brief answer is, yes, there are many problems. We cannot, overnight, create an enabling environment that matches what is prevailing in some of the developed countries. There are competing claims on our limited resources. We need also to be cautious about emulating models of development that are alien to our cultural milieu or not in line with our level of development. Yet, there is no denying there is need for change.

However, as we approach the dawn of a new millennium, our mission should be to bring about India’s national renewal. We must build an India all of us can be proud of, where every individual exerts to the utmost and excels. We need to provide the ambience where excellence can thrive. In going about this exercise, the views of NRIs could be of much importance. You have already shown a great spirit of adventure and perseverance in establishing a base for yourselves in the countries you are living in. Seeing India from outside, you may be in a position to give us a more objective assessment and advice. We shall, therefore, set up a suitable mechanism – a forum in the Government for effective on-going consultation with NRIs. The Indian Investment Centre will also be strengthened and restructured to enable it to address the investment concerns of the NRIs in a more effective e and focussed manner.

Persons of Indian Origin who have settled abroad are as diverse as the people in India itself. While they may not need any economic support, there are educational, cultural and other needs, which are voiced from time to time. In pursuance of the announcement made by the Finance Minister in his Budget Speech on 1st June, 1998, we have decided to implement a scheme for issuance of a Person of Indian Origin Card for those living abroad and having foreign passports. The PIO Card would be extended to persons of Indian origin settled in countries to be specified by Government. The Card would confer upon them a range of special benefits, which would include a visa-free regime and several other facilities in the economic, financial and educational fields.

Very broadly, a PIO Card holder will enjoy parity with NRIs in respect of all facilities presently available for acquisition and transfer of immovable properties in all India, admission of children to educational institutions in India and under the various housing schemes of Central and State Government agencies. The details of the scheme have been worked out and will be announced very shortly.

There has been a long-standing demand of our NRI brethren to provide for Dual Nationality for people of Indian origin settled abroad. This idea needs to be considered in depth before a clear-cut policy can be formulated and translated into legislative and administrative action. Public opinion has also to be taken into account. The Government will, therefore, appoint a Committee to hold wide consultations, elicit public opinion, examine the pros and cons of different options, and to formulate recommendations on the question of Dual Nationality or any suitable variant. This Committee shall give its report within 3 months.

I am given to understand that NRIs who receive dividend on non-repatriable investments are sometimes being required to furnish an undertaking that they will pay tax if required to along with a certificate from a Chartered Accountant. This is an aberration since we know that dividend in the hands of individual investors is now not taxable in India. If more information about this is given to the Finance Minister, we will redress the situation.

For years there was strong criticism of the draconian Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. My Government, therefore, introduced a Bill in the Parliament to replace FERA by a more liberalised and progressive Foreign Exchange Management Act. I understand, however, that there are reservations about some clauses in the proposed FEMA, particularly those relating to the definition of "Resident". I assure you that we will initiate discussion on this issue and resolve the genuine apprehensions of the NRIs in this regard.

I am particularly happy to note that this conference is focussing on non-resident Indians as potential investors and entrepreneurs. NRIs are doing very well in their respective fields. By dint of their hard work and intelligence, they have made their mark in highly developed and competitive countries despite the handicap of being outsiders. They have substantial financial assets, but equally, or more importantly, brains – they are a brain and talent bank. We all know that in the developed countries, particularly in the UK, USA and Europe, NRIs have achieved recognition and commendation because of their world class technical, financial and management skills. I strongly believe that NRIs can, if they set their mind to it, contribute greatly to changing the face of India.  I would like to congratulate FICCI and the Indian Investment Centre for bringing together representatives from so many countries by organising this important conference. I hope and trust that this meeting marks the beginning of what should really be an annual event in our calendar, when we get together with our extended family.

The Indian economy is growing and its fundamentals are sound. There is a spirit of entrepreneurship and competitiveness among Indians. I call upon all of you to come and contribute to this scenario of change, challenge and opportunities which is taking place.   I hope your deliberations will be fruitful. I wish you all success in your endeavours.

Jai Hind.