REGIONAL REPORT DFI of India Regional Report Dr. K.S. Rama Krishna DFI of India Chair [email protected] The economic environment in India is undergoing dynamic and positive changes. This is a welcome sign, not only for India but also for the rest of the world. The present government has embarked upon a series of ini t iat ives for overal l and continuous economic develo- pment and creation of jobs. Technologies that enable trans- parent governance as a sure means to catch up with – and leapfrog – the developed world are being assiduously encouraged for quick implementation. As many as 30 reforms are also being implemented in almost all sectors of the economy to facilitate a sustained growth trajectory. The latest of these reforms is in the area of indirect taxes. The Indian Parliament recently passed a bill introducing a Goods and Services Tax (GST) to simplify and unify the complex indirect tax regime in the country. Being termed a “game changer,” experts opine that it is the reforms, along with others that are at various stages of progress, make India a favorable destination for investors, manufacturers, technology providers, and even small and medium specialty foundation companies. This is also the most opportune time for Indian foundation companies and consultants to enter into cooperative agreements with the best technologies and expertise in the world in order to improve quality and productivity of foundation projects in India. DFI of India is actively spreading awareness of the latest foundation technologies in India by conducting seminars, workshops in various regions and annual conferences at premier institutions. The first quarterly workshop was held in Guntur, which is a city within the new capital region of Andhra Pradesh. Recent Trends Workshop The second quarterly workshop on “Recent Trends in Pile Foundations & Importance of Soil Investigation” was held on July 30, 2016, at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Raipur. Ravi Kiran Vaidya, the managing director of Geo Dynamics and executive committee member of DFI of India; A.T. Bhave, Attendees at the workshop at NIT Raipur most significant and ground breaking reform that India has undertaken so far. Reports say that the government is working overtime to implement this indirect tax reform by the beginning of the next fiscal year, April 1, 2017. GST is a single tax for goods and services for the entire country, and implementation of this new tax system is expected to result in a number of benefits such as ease of doing business in India, significant reduction of cost of capital goods, elimination of several indirect taxes, a single market for the entire country, increase of GDP, competitiveness in manufacturing that improves exports, etc. Other significant news for the construction industry is that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, removed almost all restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in construction (for details http://www.dipp.nic.in ). I am optimistic that these Networking at the July workshop DEEP FOUNDATIONS • NOV/DEC 2016 • 61
