India Inc on Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to state governments to attract investments from global companies towards achieving the ‘Viksit Bharat’ goal.

In the Independence Day address, the Prime Minister said if policies need to be changed, states should adapt them according to global requirements.

“If land is required, states should create a land bank. The more proactive the states are in working towards good governance with a single-point focus and make efforts in this regard, the more likely it is that these investors will stay for the long term. This cannot be done by the central government alone; state governments play a crucial role because the projects will be implemented in the states,” PM Modi remarked.

The Prime Minister urged the states that as the world is increasingly attracted to Bharat and is committed to investing in Bharat, “it is our responsibility to move forward with clear policies, leaving behind old habits”.

“Every state should engage in healthy competition to attract investors. This competition will bring investment to their states, providing local youth with opportunities and creating jobs,” PM Modi stressed.

According to Deepak Sood, secretary general, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), the initiative to rope in states to establish clear policies to attract investments would be a “double-down approach for scaling up investment-led growth”.

Anish Shah, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said that India must be seen as a high-quality nation and that “our products must match the best in class seen anywhere in the world in terms of design, sustainability, and service quality”.

Shah said that it is time for Indian companies to look at the world as a market for their products, and by focusing on research and development, innovation, and design across the entire value chain, “we will be able to create global champions coming out of India”.

Sanjiv Puri, president of CII, said that PM Modi’s suggestion that even two reforms carried out per year at the sub-national level are sufficient to transform the country is spot on.