Union minister Jitendra Singh, who is on a 5-day visit to the US on Saturday interacted with the Indian diaspora in New York and encouraged them to invest in India, as this is “the best time” to do so.

Jitendra Singh told the Indian diaspora in New York that this is “the best time” to invest in the country, as India is fast becoming the investment destination for the world, an official statement read.

A community reception was hosted for the minister in New York, where he pointed out that the pro-business reforms unleashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last eight years like reduction in compliance requirements, removal of retrospective taxation, simplification of the corporate tax rate structure, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) have improved India’s “rank in ease of doing business from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2022, as per World Bank report.

Jitendra Singh was speaking after returning from the Joint Ministerial Plenary of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM13) and Mission Innovation (MI-7) at the “Global Clean Energy Action Forum- 2022”, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He led a high-level Joint Indian Ministerial Delegation of the Ministry of Power, New & Renewable Energy and Ministry of Science & Technology at the Energy Summit from September 21-23 and presented India’s view on clean energy initiatives and climate actions at various Roundtables and Joint Ministerial Plenary.

Jitendra Singh also invited the NRIs (Non-resident Indians) and PIOs (Persons of Indian origins) to come and explore the great start-up boom in India, the success of which has become a global talking point.

He said that with over 77,000 start-ups and 105 unicorns, Indian innovators, incubators, and entrepreneurs are making a mark for themselves and this may inspire and encourage you to look at opportunities in India. There is a tremendous focus in the country on sunrise sectors such as 5G, artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, blockchain, green energy and space economy, the minister added.

Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Jitendra Singh said that it opens myriad avenues to enhance our university-to-university links, joint academic programs, credit portability and research partnership. He said, India is now open to foreign universities setting campuses in the country and we are hopeful that US Universities will take advantage of these opportunities.

As per the official statement, Jitendra Singh further said that as two democracies with shared values, open exchange of knowledge remains key to our strong partnership. Indian students in the United States of America are integral to it, and so are our ties between universities and educational institutions on both sides.

We also have a large number of Indian academicians and research scholars in the USA. The Minister informed that Indian students are the second largest cohort in the US. What makes them stand out is that most of them are enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. He said they contribute to the cross-flow of knowledge, technology, research and prosperity between the two countries and honing talent in this niche area has special importance for the digital age, for powering the knowledge economy and for building a greener planet.

He said that there are so many Fortune 500 companies, be it Google and its parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Alphabet, Twitter, FedEx, NetApp and Starbucks – who have Indians either heading them or playing an essential role in the senior management.

He further said that Indo-US ties have emerged as the defining partnership of the 21st century and as per government data, merchandise exports from India reached a new high at USD 417.81 billion during the financial year (FY) 2021-22, marking a surge of 43.18 per cent over the USD 291.18 billion recorded in the previous fiscal.

He said, this is the first time India has achieved its ambitious target of crossing the USD 400 billion mark in merchandise exports and this also shows that India has started to emerge as a trusted partner as global firms are looking to diversify their supply chains and reduce their dependence on China.

The minister concluded by saying that we, in India and around the world, are celebrating 75 years of India’s independence and its incredible journey as a vibrant democracy and a thriving economy.

The minister told the Indian diaspora that they represent the aspirations of a new India, an India that is on the march towards ‘Amrit Kaal’, the golden age of progress and growth. It is also heartening to know that the largest India Day Parade in New York City was held on August 21 this year, by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) in collaboration with the Indian Consulate, the statement read.

The minister called upon them to join hands in celebrating India’s diversity, art, innovation, sporting achievements, and much more and contribute to India’s onward march as a nation.

Singh departed for India after a 5-day fruitful visit to the USA to participate in Global Clean Energy Action Forum and meaningful interaction with eminent academicians as well as the Indian diaspora.