The Indian Minister of State for Finance and Corporate affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, gave a conference about her current stance on the lively economic landscape of India, both within and outside the country on the 28th of October at The Indian Embassy in Holborn: “It's a good opportunity to come London regarding the investment in India and our new government's economic plans,” a composed Sitharaman stated.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University educated minister was passing briefly through London to meet with such bodies as the confederation of the British industry who she referred to as key 'decision makers.'
With regard to the recent telecoms corporate tax cases, in which the Indian government was criticised for its retrospective exercise of the law, she stated that “an amendment was made and Vodafone was one of the companies affected” but that it was about “upholding fairness so it was good to leave the amendment(...) we are however working on the simplification of this tax system.”The minister also talked passionately on other areas that pertained to international pressures for example the Indian government's apprehension about the US Trade Representative's 'Special 301 Report' on India's reportedly slack intellectual property rights regime: “India understands its intellectual property rights” the minster asserted. “They are vibrant and up-to-date.”
Finishing on the topic of trade, Smt. Sitharaman commented on a question about the poor packaging of Indian products for export: “quality is the real big issue for this country. It is about what we can do to improve quality. Let's first build awareness on that. We are brining in professionals to work on this in the government and with our local industries.” The Minister met several important senior officials, including Business Secretary Vince Cable, within the space of a few days, and has now returned to India.