Feature
Modi assures reforms, global CEOs want pace hastened
New York: In a 90-minute dinner meeting with 42 of the world’s top corporate leaders here on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for stronger inflow of foreign investments into India, outlining continuity in reforms, prompt decisions and transparency as areas of priority.
The chief executives were impressed. But they wanted the prime minister to quicken the pace of reforms.
“Foreign direct investment all over the world has fallen. But in India, it increased by 40 percent. This reflects confidence in the Indian economy,” the prime minister said during the interaction on Thursday evening with the chief executives, drawn from Fortune 500 companies.
“Reform in governance is my Number One priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision-making, transparency and accountability,” the prime minister, before dining with them at the Waldorf Towers Hotel in Manhattan where he is staying.
Indian officials said the net worth of all the companies represented at the meet was over $4.5 trillion. They included Ford, Lockheed Martin, DuPont, IBM, GE, Boeing, Pepsi, CitiBank, Starwood, MasterCard, Marriot, Caterpillar, Merck, Qualcomm, Saandisc and Cisco.
Earlier, the prime minister participated in two roundtables — one on financial sector and the other on “Media, Technology and Communications – Growth Story for India”. At both meetings, the chief executives said they saw India as among the top five markets to do business with.
Modi also met individually with the US-India Business Council chair Ajay Banga, industrialist and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Lockheed Martin chief Marillyn A. Hewson and Aecom chief executive Mike Burke.
Among them, Bloomberg said his business empire in India was employing around 2,500 people currently, of which 98 percent were Indians, He said the intention was to double the numbers soon. Modi thanked the former mayor for his insights, as he is also India’s knowledge partner for “Smart Cities” project.
Later, the prime minister himself gave an update on his meetings during the packed day.
“Met top American CEOs from media and entertainment sector. They were enthusiastic about the change ‘Digital India’ initiative is driving,” Modi tweeted, adding: “Digital technology has a vital role in making democracy stronger and in overall human resource development.”
More specifically, the prime minister also spoke of his government’s vision to connect the 600,000-odd villages in India with broadband and emphasized that digital technology will increasingly play a major role in further strengthening democracy and India’s development narrative.
“My interaction with the Fortune 500 CEOs was on investment opportunities in India and why they must come and ‘Make in India’,” said the prime minister.
Amitabh Kant, secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, who was present during most of the meetings, said later that the general drift of the interaction with top CEOs was vibrant, constructive and positive — all this “over exotic Indian cuisine”.
Briefing the media, India’s foreign office spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the prime minister made it a point to interact with each of the 42 chef executives at the dinner meet and was particularly keen to understand which were their areas of concern which his government could address and resole.
“By and large the mood was upbeat. There was a general consensus that the prime minister was effecting change in India. The only thing which these chief executives said was: Please make these changes faster,” Swarup said.
The prime minister said he believed in deregulation and in giving private sector the space to develop, with predictable, transparent and accountable government.
Arun Singh, India’s Ambassador tom the US, said: “It came through clearly that — and most people felt — this was a very good moment for India in the global context.” He said there was also support for the prime minister’s “Make in India”, “Skill India”, “Digital India” and “Smart Cities” programmes.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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