More reforms in the offing

Chidambaram said that, quot;The only direction that custom duties will go in India will be downwards.quot; The special import taxes that have been introduced to replace customs duties was a temporary measure and would be done away with, he added.

Talking about legal contracts, Chidambaram said India has a fiercely independent judiciary. He said that there have been cases where the disputes, which could have taken ten years in American courts, have been settled in two years. quot;Your investments will be protected by the courts,quot; he said. The finance minister said German banks were keen to come to India and that the pressure for more German banks was growing.

He expressed the hope that the new inflow of German investments into India would substantially increase in the coming years, particularly in infrastructure sectors in which Indian requirements were huge. He noted that all proposals for investment in infrastructure were welcome, and underlined its policy to process these in a prompt, fair, objective and transparent manner. The finance minister said that 99 per cent of all enterprises in Germany were small and medium companies. They were the backbone of the Germany economy. The turnover was 45 per cent of the total turnover and 35 per cent of exports. He said India was going through a process of change and the past seven years had been difficult. One of the issues that have come up in recent years was that of ownership, which was relevant to any country,quot; Chidambaram said.