Editors Note

The month of May has been packed with a very wide range of developments, including the first-ever UK-India Awards organised by India Inc. in London on May 12. The event was preceded by the annual UK-India Conclave, this time on the theme of 'A Global Partnership: A New Era in UK-India Relations'. Both events became the focal point for senior Indian ministers on visits to the UK earlier this month to promote India as an attractive investment destination. We cover these in our special 'From the Scene' section as well as a 'Face to Face' feature tracking Indian Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal's success on his investment scouting mission and a 'Special Report' on Indian Minister for Roads Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari's plans to work closely with the UK on India's infrastructure challenge. Both ministers listed very crucial Masala Bonds on the London Stock Exchange, developments that we delve into as part of our coverage of their visits to Europe. Our central focus for this edition is on start-ups, with an eye on the kind of impact Start-up India has had on the ground. We analyse why the sector is undergoing a much-needed reality check and why bottom of the pyramid voices must no longer be ignored. There are interviews with prominent start-up entrepreneurs who were lured by the Indian market's promise and venture capitalists who chose to invest in innovative enterprises. Our 'Big Story' this month is India's impressive foreign direct investment (FDI) success and how not just quantity but quality of FDI is finally getting the attention it deserves. Invest India, the country's premier investment facilitation agency, presents insights into the recent trends in this area. The 'Country Focus' this time is on a “win-win” partnership with South Korea and the lessons India can learn from the Asian nation's own struggles to rise from poverty in the 1950s. We track relations between India and South Korea and explore the trajectory of some of the country's most successful brand exports into India. In other sections, EY provides some context to India's IPO overdrive in recent months, with companies raising more than $4 billion in 2016, and KPMG weighs up the reasons behind the Indian healthcare sector becoming a magnet for foreign investments. As usual, we also take stock of some of the key flagship schemes of the Indian government to cover special reports under the wider Solar India, Digital India and Make in India umbrella. The 'State Focus' is on the north Indian state of Haryana and all its efforts to make its policies and landscape attractive to global investors looking for the best destination for their funds, with an 'Expat's Guide' to its capital Chandigarh. This edition of 'IIJ' is once again designed to cover a broad array of subjects and issues.