We have dispelled climate of doom and gloom: PM

Terming the recent decisions to reduce fuel subsidies to bring down fiscal deficit as "politically difficult" ones, he said "we bit the bullet and did what we felt was the right thing to do".

Speaking at the Economic Times Award for Corporate Excellence, Singh said the government was mindful of the effects such steps have on the poor and vulnerable and "we will take all possible measures to protect their lifeline needs".

"We have dispelled gloom and doom, improved the climate for foreign investment, improved ministry coordination, and are working hard to restore investor confidence and the growth environment," he told captains of India Inc.

Admitting that certain tax measures like GAAR (general anti avoidance rules) and retrospective tax amendments in the Budget have led to "a very negative" reaction from investors, he said: "We hope to announce decisions on all these issues within the next few weeks".

Highlighting that the Cabinet has approved changes in the banking and insurance laws and also a new pension law, with higher FDI limits, the Prime Minister said: "It will be our endeavour to have them passed by Parliament as soon as possible. They will make our financial system more able to support growth."

Hinting at setting up of a National Investment Board, which has been mooted by finance minister P Chidambaram, the Prime Minister said one of the major negative features of the present situation was that a large number of infrastructure projects were stuck because of delay in granting various clearances and the non-transparency in the conditions in which clearances are given.

"We are looking at ways to speed up clearance processes and making them more transparent," Singh said.

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