In a bid to attract foreign investors, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday promised to provide investors with an encouraging environment along with a stable tax regime and lower fiscal deficit.

Addressing an assembly of investors at the Global Investors Meet in Hong Kong, Mr. Chidambaram said that the Congress-led UPA government had handled the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) situation effectively and killed the notion that GAAR would be some sort of a monster.

Mr. Chidambaram dropped a hint that tax rates in India might not be increased and the coming Budget would provide investors with a lot of incentives, despite the government's policy being inclined in favor of the poor.

He added that the Indian economy would grow by an estimated rate of 6.5-7 per cent in 2013-14 and by 8 per cent the next financial year. However, he remained pessimistic about the economic growth in the current financial year. A news agency quoted him saying, "In the current (financial) year, we will not do better than 5.7 per cent."

He also sought to dispel investors' concerns over the Indian economy, saying the country didn't face the jeopardy of a downgrade of sovereign ratings.

For the first time, the finance minister also gave clear deadline for the Goods & Services Tax (GST). He announced that the government had plans to introduce the GST bill in the monsoon session of Parliament and get it approved by December 2013.

Mr. Chidambaram also highlighted infrastructure building as one of the government's top priorities. He said the Cabinet Committee on Investments would hold its first meeting in January and clear all obstacles for large infrastructure projects.