Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 27 said that the Delhi violence and ongoing Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests has not dampened investors’ sentiment.
“There is interest in India, I would say there is lot more interest now,” Sitharaman said on her visit to Guwahati on February 27, adding that she got the positive signals of investors’ confidence in her recent trip to Saudi Arabia.
“The investors I met there has expressed willingness to invest more in India, even many of them are planning to open their India representative office here to facilitate the process,” Sitharaman said.
On the possible impact of Coronavirus scare on the industry and the economy, the finance minister said there is none as of now. “However, if the situation doesn’t improve in the next two months, there may be a shortage of raw material. We are working on how to address the issue and help the industry,” she added.
Talking about the banking services in Assam and especially bringing tea gardens under financial inclusion scheme of government, Sitharaman said that she instructed the banks to be a lot more agile in opening accounts in the remote tea gardens of Assam.
She also set a deadline for banks to open all the accounts of the tea garden labours to connect them with Direct Benefit Transfer scheme of the government.
Earlier, in the day the finance minister held post-budget discussion with industry captains, policymakers and government officials in Guwahati.
