PM Modi's 'Make in India' Pitch Ahead of US Visit; Top CEOs Present

India Inc, present in much strength at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak soon, has pledged commitment to his ambitious "Make in India" campaign that aims to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub.

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries said, "PM Modi dreams and does working 14 hours a day and motivates a billion Indians to dream and do."

He also said it was important for India to be open to capital from all over the globe.

Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry said "Key challenges like building critical infrastructure and putting in place transparent tax and Duty structures have to be met.

"Make in India is a unique opportunity for government and business to work together," he said.

Kumar Mangalam Birla who heads the Aditya Birla Group and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank also spoke. In the audience are about 500 top CEOs. As the event began, pledges to make in India flowed.

The Modi sales pitch is being beamed simultaneously in state capitals and Indian missions abroad. This evening, Mr Modi leaves for the US, where he will meet CEOs of several Fortune 500 companies.

Opening the event in Delhi, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "For us 'Make-in-India' isn't a slogan, it is a mission to be accomplished."

What began with the PM's call on Independence Day to "Make in India" and have a "Zero Defect; Zero Effect" policy is now a gigantic campaign which targets top companies across sectors in identified countries. It also identifies select domestic companies having leadership in innovation and new technology for turning them into global champions.

The emphasis is on making it easy to do business in India, removing hurdles like red tape and corruption.

Ms Sitharaman's ministry has set up an "Invest India" unit which will act as the first reference point for guiding foreign investors on all aspects of regulatory and policy issues and to assist them in obtaining regulatory clearances.

The government is also closely looking into all regulatory processes with a view to making them simple and reducing the burden of compliance on investors. A dedicated cell will answer business queries through a newly created web portal (www.makeinindia.com) within 72 hours.

The government has identified 25 key sectors in which India has the potential of becoming a world leader and aims at creating jobs for over 10 million people, who join the workforce every year.

It aims to attract foreign companies to set up factories in India and invest in the country's infrastructure. The new government has liberalised defense manufacturing and insurance sectors to attract FDI, but analysts say the government needs to do much more to attract foreign capital.