“KEM CHHO!”

“Kem Chho, Mr Prime Minister?” greeted US’ President Barack Obama to India’s PM, Narendra Modi, when they first met in an informal meeting at Washington. This shows how two leaders who come from different political ideologues stuck an instant rapport and have affection and respect towards each other. While Modi belongs to right wing nationalists, Obama set out being on the left of the Democratic Party. Despite such differences they share a lot of similarities.  They both come from a humble background, they both are master orators, and both have a honest intent to grow their countries and grow their partners. These similarities overshadow any differences, political or otherwise, they have. 

When the premier of the world’s only superpower greeted our prime minister in his local language, it showed a lot has changed in the way India is now perceived by the US. India is looked more as an equal partner rather than any other obscured developing country. The personal aura of PM Modi and the thumping victory that he got in the general election has helped a lot for such change in perception. This was further cemented by the way the PM was welcomed by the Indian diasporas in New York, which showcased his popularity even outside India. All this gave confidence among the Americans that this is the man with whom they can talk business. 

The ground work for this had already been prepared by the launch of ‘Make in India’ initiative by the PM just before leaving for his landmark visit to the US. This is a follow-up to Modi’s maiden Independence Day speech where he stressed on the Make in India program. This big initiative aims to revive manufacturing activities in 25 sectors. These sectors are those where there is ample scope of progress. PM Modi also elaborated about how India fares in ease of doing business, which currently stands at 134, and how the government is revamping its system so that it can climb to the 50th place. The launch was attended by the who’s who of India Inc. that gave much credence to the PM’s initiative and his ability to walk the talk.

There is hardly any historical precedence in India wherein in such a short span of time, to be precise in four and half months, any PM of India has met with the heads of the world’s three largest economies and talked business. We at DSIJ believe that the PM’s charisma and his exuberance have given a lot of confidence to Indians all over the world, making them believe in themselves. This belief itself will go a long way in mobilizing participation from all, thus propelling the engines of growth.

However, we do not expect the initiatives taken by the government or the investment committed by major nations to yield results immediately. It will take three to four years before we can see some concrete results on ground and our economy moving back to the higher orbits of growth. Equity remains one of the best asset classes to reap the benefits of such economic growth and investment through mutual funds presents good opportunity for investors to build their assets. In our cover story we are giving seven best equity diversified mutual funds and readers can invest in these stocks according to their risk appetite.