Legal reforms to boost FDI, says Montek

Legal reforms, which the government is looking to usher in, would push foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Sunday. “The government has made legal reforms its new agenda. Reform in the legal sector will expedite the legal process and thus facilitate FDI in the country as investors will be able to take faster legal recourse if needed,” Ahluwalia said at the India Economic Summit. At a conference last week, law minister Veerappa Moily, in the presence of Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, had stressed the need for reducing the pendency of cases in various courts of the country. As of July 2009, 53,000 cases were pending with the Supreme Court, 40 lakh with different High Courts and 2.07 crore cases, with the lower courts. Ahluwalia said India has received “huge FDI” in recent years but there is scope for more, particularly in education. “Our industries need skilled workforce to sustain and increase the present growth. They cannot grow rapidly for long in the absence of skilled manpower,” he added.