Indian ministers sell bullish view at Davos as China's growth falters

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet ministers came to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos with a clear and direct message. If now was time for India to assert itself as a powerful economy, then "India has seized the moment."

This message was hammered home to audience members at a session on Thursday titled "Can India seize its moment?" Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum, natural gas, housing and urban affairs, kicked off the panel session, saying it already had.

In the latest survey released by BofA Securities on Tuesday, major fund managers were net 18% overweight on India, second only to Japan's 59% among major Asia-Pacific markets. This is in sharp contrast to China, where it remains 20% underweight. The survey was conducted this month, covering 256 funds with aggregate assets under management of $669 billion.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of railways, communications, electronics and information technology, cited four pillars that have been instrumental in transforming the Indian economy over the last decade under Modi: building physical and digital infrastructure, achieving inclusive growth, enhancing the manufacturing sector, and cutting red tape.

For instance, 510 million bank accounts were opened over the past 10 years, meaning a substantial portion of lower income people were "brought into the formal financial system," Vaishnaw said.

On deregulation, more than 1,500 laws and statutes were repealed, including the abolishment of many colonial period laws and procedures. The telecom sector benefitted greatly, with the time it takes to obtain a permit to set up mobile base station slashed from an average of 230 days to just seven days.

Formal job creation in 2019 totaled about 600,000 a month, but has increased to 1.5 million a month recently, Vaishnaw said