Doing Business in India

Abstract

India is a country with enormous potential for economic growth, abundantly endowed with both natural and human resources. However, excessive and increasingly outdated controls and regulations stifled enterprise and initiative, impeding the country's development in the four decades following independence in 1947.The 1990s heralded a new era. The new Industrial Policy introduced in 1991 brought with it rapid liberalisation of trade and vigorous monetary, fiscal and regulatory reforms which boosted the potential of the corporate sector and provided unique business opportunities for foreign investors.Legislation and policies implemented in the last decade have resulted in more far reaching changes in the legal and regulatory environment of India. Laws have been liberalised further and procedures simplified, all with the aim of encouraging private enterprise. These efforts have borne fruit and India's GDP growth rate for the last several years confirms this. However, recently, growth has become sluggish, not in the least because of insufficient infrastructure and the relatively high cost of borrowing in India. The continued global slowdown has also contributed to this deceleration. Yet, commentators believe that India remains an attractive investment destination from a medium to long term perspective.Doing Business in India has in the past helped foreign investors and associated firms understand the basic legal framework for doing business in India, and I hope that this edition too will serve that purpose.