Mauritius eyes more India investments, lures film industry
Port Louis: Pitching itself as the gateway for Africa, the scenic Mauritius is looking to attract more Indian investments across diverse sectors, including education and deep sea mining segments.
The island nation provides “liberalised investment procedures and ease of doing business” while film shooting is another area that offers benefits for Indian entities, according to Mauritius government officials.
Mauritius, which is home to a vast population of India- origin population, has wide-ranging bilateral ties with India, both at government and business levels.
“We want a larger number of companies from India to set up operations in the island nation… We want companies from India to play a greater role in the the development of Mauritian economy,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mauritius) Counsellor Vish Mungur told PTI.
Describing Mauritius as a land of opportunities for Indian companies, Mungur noted it also provides avenues to expand businesses into other African nations.
Positioning itself as a ‘tax-free gateway to Africa’, Mauritius also provides tax incentives.
Mungur noted that Indian firms can make investments in various sectors including manufacturing, space, education, pharmaceuticals, software, real estate, deep sea mining and ocean economy.
“Mauritius provides liberalised investment procedures and ease of doing business in the island nation,” Board of Investment (BOI) Senior Director Shamima Mallam Hassam said.
“For the film industry, we grant a 30 percent refund on all the expenditure made in Mauritius and the move is helping us as in the last one and half year… We have received 12 projects from Bollywood,” she noted.
According to her, taxes have been capped at 15 percent for corporates as well as for individuals.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC), State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corp (LIC), New India Assurance Company, Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd (TCIL), Infosys and Oberoi Group, are among the many Indian corporates having presence in Mauritius.
With regard to Indian firms looking to invest in other parts of Africa through Mauritius, Hassam said: “In terms of our free port (a kind of tax-free economic zone) being used as a base for onward shipping to Africa, there are opportunities for India.”
“Also, for manufacturing activities for export to Africa, we are offering zero percent income tax if the companies operate in our free port,” she said.
India-origin persons are estimated to account for close to 70 percent of the island nation’s total 1.3 million population.
