Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, sent India an arbitration notice, while highligh

ting the tax case could create negative sentiment among foreign investors, who h
ave cited cases involving Nokia, Vodafone and Cairn, among others, to view India
with suspicion when it comes to policy certainty and clear tax laws. As late as
in April 2015, Nokia had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to
get the asset freeze on its factory lifted. Now, things seem to have changed. "W
e have seen the right desire to resolve the issues," French said. The BJP-led go
vernment is "proactive in thinking of solutions, recognising it is a very comple
x situation." Arbitration, besides taking time and being expensive, creates "a l
ot of noise that is not in the best interest of anybody, particularly when India
is looking at focusing on Make in India," French said, underlining India's pote
ntial as a manufacturing hub. "Our overall experience in India, setting aside ta
xation issues, in terms of the quality of people, the infrastructure, has been v
ery good. We would encourage every company to come and manufacture here," he add
ed. "To those who don't because maybe they are nervous about India, because they
don't understand India, we will say you should take the plunge and come here."