Multi-billion investment plans announced by global majors Coca-Cola and Ikea over the past one week for the Indian market shows that things are moving and the government has "not lost direction, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma has said. 

"We welcome investment of $5 billion by Coca-Cola and 1.5 billion euros by Ikea that is coming in. It is good news and things are moving. Its not that we have lost our direction. We have not," Sharma said after meeting Coca-Cola Co-chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent in his office on Wednesday. 

Coca-Cola had announced on Tuesday that it would invest $5 billion in India by 2020 in various activities, including setting up of new bottling plants. Last week, Swedish homeware Ikea submitted its proposal to the government for investing Rs 10,500 crore to set up 25 stores in the country. 

Sharma said the government is working to provide investor-friendly climate. "We have made it very clear that we believe in an environment which is welcoming and supportive for investors. We have taken a number of steps and have come out with policy initiatives," he said. On issues raised by Ikea related to domestic sourcing clause in single-brand retail, Sharma indicated that Ikea may not have problems sourcing 30% inputs from small enterprises as it was already doing so. "Ikea is present here for a long time, they have been sourcing from India. About 30% of their textiles are sourced from India for their global operations. They are also sourcing their carpets and entire kitchen and steel range," Sharma said.

Source : The Economic Times