India must aspire to be largest FDI recipient globally and "has everything going for it", given its vibrant digital profile, huge market, and investor-friendly policies to woo foreign companies, including Apple, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday. Prasad, Minister for Electronics, IT and Communications said, rapid pace of ecomic development, India's rising clout globally and citizen-centric digital transformation initiatives are "irreversible".

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India has become fifth-largest ecomy globally: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Sending a strong signal to potential investors, Prasad said government remains "accessible and open", as he instructed officers to have an investor-friendly attitude in dealing with companies. Given recent anuncements on tax relief for manufacturing, India has same tax regime as Vietnam and Thailand. minister also claimed India has become 5th largest ecomy globally.

"If any foreign investor is t given good treatment by my officers, I will t like it. If I hear a complaint...I want my team to be open and accessible because we need investments," minister said.

"If this is level of India's maturity in ecomic development surely why we should be ninth biggest recipient of FDI...in my view, India must be topmost center for FDI... is how I see it. This is goal and we all need to work in that direction," minister said addressing 'Invest Digicom 2019'. He also said, "India has everything going for it".

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India has a thriving digital ecosystem: Prasad

Prasad said FDI has seen a jump over last few years and grossed $64 billion in FY19. telecom sector attracted FDI worth $2.67 billion, while electronics, computer software, and hardware toger witnessed $6.4 billion. Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows stood at $16.3 billion in first quarter of 2019-20 against $12.7 billion in year-ago period.

India has been leveraging techlogy t just for benefits to ecomy and commerce but also for digital empowerment. country today has a digitally thriving ecosystem for commerce, he added. India's stance that right of internet access is "n-negotiable" has been a position that was ackwledged globally, Prasad said, adding India's firm standpoint against Facebook's Free Basics did t hamper its FDI due to strength of its thriving market.

minister, who held a CEO roundtable with top leaders in telecom and electronics manufacturing industry earlier this month, said that country offers a huge market for companies like Apple and ors to make for India and also export. Speaking to reporters later, he said that India has changed rules and tax regime to attract best manufacturers in world. 

"Apple has begun to love India and y are welcome to India," he added. " far-reaching decisions that we have taken have also been heard by Apple. Apple has started production in India in a very effective way," he said.

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Industries in electronics and communications are enabled by policies, including Digital Communications, electronics manufacturing, as well as software products. communications sector after its ups and downs has w reached a st of stability and maturity, he ted. In a tweet, he said Telecommunications Software & Hardware have been among top FDI sectors in India

"India has a lot to offer," said minister, ting that country represented a key market for social media firms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Data will be an important area of growth and India should aim to be a global hub in data analytics, as it maintains a proper blend of data availability, utility and data invation with data privacy. 

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