NEW YORK: Union Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS of Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh today told Indian diaspora in New York that this is the "best time" to invest in India, as India is fast becoming the world's most preferred investment destination.

Interacting with eminent diaspora over Community Reception hosted for him at New York, Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that the pro-business reforms unleashed by Prime Minister 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 the World Bank report.

The Minister was speaking to the Indian diaspora in New York 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", at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He led a high-level Joint Indian Ministerial Delegation of Ministry of Power, New & Renewable Energy and Ministry of Science & Technology at the Energy Summit from 21st a to 23rd of September and presented India's view on clean energy initiatives and climate actions at various Roundtables and Joint Ministerial Plenary.

Dr 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, with over 77,000 start-ups and 105 unicorns, our 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 tremendous focus in the country on sunrise sectors such as 5G, artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, Block chain, green energy and space economy, the Minister added.

Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Dr Jitendra Singh says, 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.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, 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 and 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 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 knowledge economy and for building a greener planet.

The Minister felt happy that today, so many of the fortune 500 companies, be it Google and its parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Alphabet, Twitter, FedEx, NetApp and Starbucks have Indians either heading them or playing an important role in the senior management.

Dr Jitendra Singh 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 US$ 417.81 billion during the financial year (FY) 2021-22, marking a surge of 43.18 percent over the US$ 291.18 billion recorded in the previous fiscal. He said, this is the first time India has achieved its ambitious target of crossing the US$ 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.

Dr Jitendra Singh 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. He said, the celebrations organized around Independence Day, this year, had a distinct flavour of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and he was happy to learn that the Indian diaspora in the USA also participated in these celebrations here in the USA with great fanfare.

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 21st, 2022 by Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) in collaboration with the Consulate. 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.