Private sector’s reluctance to invest in India is a ‘no-confidence motion’ against Modi government: Congress

Congress General Secretary for Communications Jairam Ramesh. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The reluctance of the private sector to invest in India is a “corporate motion of no-confidence” in the Narendra Modi government, the Congress said on Monday (January 6, 2025).

In a post on social media platform X, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh urged the government to focus on stimulating and sustaining domestic investment in the upcoming Union budget.

Claiming that the investment environment in India had been sluggish in the “Modi decade”, Mr. Ramesh said the Gross Fixed Capital Formation had fallen from an average of 32% of GDP during Manmohan Singh’s prime ministerial decade to consistently being below 29% of GDP in the past 10 years.

“Investment is sluggish because mass consumption is not accelerating, tax and other authorities are threatening and intimidating businesses, and because of the growing perception that only four to five business groups can grow in the Modi regime. Now comes fresh evidence of the private sector’s reluctance to invest in India under this government – net foreign direct investment (FDI) fell to a 12-year low in April-October this year (2024). Gross FDI inflows have stagnated,” Mr. Ramesh said, citing a news report.

“Indian firms are increasingly choosing to invest abroad rather than at home. This is a corporate motion of no confidence in the Modi Government,“ he said.

The Congress leader asserted that FDI inflows were important but domestic investment or DI is more fundamental. “How to stimulate and sustain DI has to be the central concern of the Union Budget to be presented 26 days from today,” Mr. Ramesh said.