India keen to end ‘messy business’, US investors told

A senior member of India's economic ministry has admitted to Washington that doing business in India remains ''messy'' despite recent efforts at economic liberalisation.

"I do understand that many of you may have difficult time in doing business in India. Many of you yesterday (Thursday) told me, and I quote, "doing business in India is messy," Arvind Mayaram, secretary for economic affairs, said at a reception hosted for him by the US India Business Council (USIBC).

The two-hour meeting was held at the US Treasury Department. It was convened by the undersecretary of the treasury, Lael Brainard, and comprised a select group of American investors, corporate leaders and officials. Eager to invest in India, the US side gave free vent to its doubts about the investment climate.

Mayaram is leading a delegation for US-India economic and financial partnership meetings between the US Treasury Department and the Indian ministry of finance.

Officials from the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities & Exchange Board of India, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority, and the Forward Markets Commission have attended the series of meetings held in Washington along with their US counterparts.

During the meetings and also at the Friday reception, Mayaram assured investors that the Indian government is determined to take hard decisions to quickly improve the investment climate.

"I think you need to stay the course. You need to be there. We are a work in progress, because we are a developing country. We still need to improve our systems and we will continue to move in that direction. I can assure you that as time goes by, doing business in India will not be as messy as you think it is today," he said.