GUWAHATI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday claimed the mood of foreign investors was not dampened by the recent violent incidents related to Citizenship (Amendment) Act in parts of the country.

Asked if the incidents will affect foreign investments, she cited her recent meeting with foreign investors in Saudi Arabia at a press conference in Guwahati.

“Let me give you an indicator. I recently went to Saudi Arabia to participate in the G20 summit. I took the opportunity to have several bilateral meetings with my counterparts. I also met investors and many others and interacted with them. Nowhere, and I repeat nowhere, was there a concern saying something is happening in India…On the contrary, they, I will not take names but they are very prominent investors, said they are now willing to even open up a representation office in India which they don’t have till now but they have huge investments in India,” Sitharaman said.

She said the investors had shown a lot of interests in the announcement made by the Central government on December 31 last year on national infrastructure pipeline.

“It gives you a clear indication of all the various projects waiting for. There is (foreign investors’) interest in India and it continues,” the Finance Minister said.

She also said that in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, there were no concerns over raw materials adding that she had a meeting with leaders of many different industries and they did not express any anxiety on the supply of raw materials or export being disturbed.

“However, some of them felt that if the situation, as regards containing the virus, doesn’t improve after two months, they may start having problems of raw materials. We are trying to see how much we can help them out,” she said.

Sitharaman said the Centre was keen on investing further in the Northeast.

“The approach to the Northeast and revival of its economy is something you see happening. Infrastructure is happening, industries are being given encouragement and bridges have been completed in such speed. We hope all these will give the right message to the Northeast that we are interested in investing and helping the ecosystem to build in such a way that the industries can grow,” she said.

Earlier in the day, she met trade and industry representatives, economists and policy experts and discussed various issues.