India to woo companies looking to leave China

Nirmala Sitharaman says she will prepare a blueprint to identify such MNCs

Washington: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said she will prepare a blueprint for international companies that are looking beyond China to make India as their preferred investment destination.

She said industry leaders who are contemplating getting their businesses out of China are "definitely considering India is the pitch ". Therefore, she said, it might be important for the government to now see and meet up with a lot of industry leaders and invite them to India.

"I would go back and design in some way whereby I will identify those multinational corporations, all American businesses or from any country, which are moving out of China or are probably contemplating. I will make a blueprint with which I will approach them and put forward to them as to why India is a far more preferable destination," Sitharaman said after the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank here.

That could also be in specific areas in which India has common capacity ecosystem building, whether it is electronics, lithium-ion battery or any other semiconductors, she added. However, Sitharaman said the government's decision is not just going to be purely on the basis of what is happening presently between the US and China.

"That could either aggravate the situation or probably just influence at some level. But the fact remains that there are companies which are looking at relocating for various other reasons also," she said.

She said India wants to create an ecosystem to invite the firms to tap the country's market. "There was one thing very clear that India is still for them (companies), one of the biggest options to consider," she added.

'One case should not be used to question IBC'

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said uncertainty arising out of one case shouldn't be generalised about the efficiency of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. "If ED attaches somebody's property and as a result some uncertainty comes into the IBC process, it's nothing... That's not going to happen everytime," she said, in response to a query on a recent case that many claim shows loopholes in IBC.

Strike against PSB mergers
All India Bank Employees Association and Bank Employees Federation of India have called for a nationwide strike on October 22 to stage a protest against the mergers of 10 public sector banks (PSBs).

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