NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s Prime Minister on Thursday invited foreign investors to take advantage of the country’s $ 26 billion incentive program and help the country become an industrial center.
India will need an investment of US $ 4.5 trillion by 2040 to develop its vast infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told political and business leaders in a virtual lecture organized by the World Economic Forum.
He identified electric mobility, clean energy, oil and gas pipelines, airports and mobile manufacturing as some of the areas that may be attractive to foreign investors.
He said that India offers a large market and a business-friendly environment as a vibrant democracy. He also spoke about the success of India’s efforts to integrate the informal economy through digital transactions, especially after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Modi said that India vaccinated 2.3 million health workers in less than two weeks and that the authorities hope to give injections to 300 million people. The recipients will include 30 million doctors, nurses and other frontline workers.
India started inoculating health workers on January 16 in a major vaccination campaign COVID-19.
India is home to the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world. On January 4, India approved the emergency use of two vaccines, one developed by the University of Oxford and the UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the other by the Indian company Bharat Biotech.
The annual WEF meeting is being held online this year due to the pandemic, rather than the face-to-face event that normally takes place in Davos, Switzerland.
Originally published