Vajpayee woos Indians abroad with PIO card

NEW DELHI, NOV 12: The Government has taken another important step to attract investment from Indian industrialists and professionals settle...

NEW DELHI, NOV 12: The Government has taken another important step to attract investment from Indian industrialists and professionals settled abroad. The Government would soon issue People of Indian Origin PIO cards which will entitle them to special economic and visa facilities.

Announcing this at the Global Indian Entrepreneurs Conference, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said he was setting up a committee to study the issue of dual citizenship to NRIs. The Committee would take into account public opinion on this matter and give its recommendations on dual citizenship or 8220;any suitable variant8221; within three months.

The PIO card would be issued to people of Indian origin holding foreign passports in countries to be specified by the Government. The card would confer upon them a range of special benefits, which would include a visa-free regime and several other facilities in the economic, financial and educational fields.

Broadly, a PIO holder will enjoy parity with NRIs in respect of allfacilities for acquisition and transfer of immovable properties in India, admission of children to educational institutions in India and participate in various housing schemes of Central and state government agencies.

Vajpayee said the Foreign Exchange Management Bill will be further changed to take into account reservations about certain clauses including the definition of a resident Indian. 8220;I assure you that we will initiate discussion on this issue and resolve the genuine apprehensions of the NRIs in this regard,8221; he said.

Vajpayee said the Finance Ministry would take steps to remove certain tax aberrations on dividend received by NRIs on non-repatriable investments if they were forthcoming with more information in this regard.

The Prime Minister said financial instruments would soon be created to channelise NRI and PIO savings and investments into India.

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Appealing to the NRIs to participate in the 7,000 km six-lane corridor linking Silchar and Saurashtra and Kashmir and Kanyamumari, he saidthis was expected to save Rs 15,000 crore by way of conservation of petroleum products.

8220;For a nation that saves more than Rs three lakh crore annually, a country that imports Rs 28,000 crore worth of gold, largely for savings, has ample resources for several projects of this scale and dimension,8221; he said.

The Prime Minister said the government will start within this year and from 20 diferent places across the country, one of the biggest civil engineering projects of recent times providing scope for maximum private sector and foreign participation.

Noting that the government was committed to speeding up growth in information technology, Vajpayee said he would soon announce a new telecom policy that would offer enormous employment and investment opportunities.

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Appreciating concerns of NRIs about the quality of work culture in the country, Vajpayee said though there are many problems 8220;we cannot overnight create an enabling environment that matches what is prevailing in the developedcountries8221;.

The Prime Minister said the Indian investment centre will also be strengthened and restructured to enable it to address the investment concerns of the NRIs in a more effective and focussed manner.