Singh said Indians must lose their "chalta hai" attitude -- a commonly used phrase meaning "it will do" -- to attract new businesses and increase productivity of those already established to compete with India's neighbours.

"We have to give up our 'chalta hai' attitude to move very fast to catch up with our neighbours in east Asia," said Singh.

Speaking at the launch of a project to modernise a steel plant in the eastern state of West Bengal, Singh highlighted the fact that Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal does not yet produce any steel in India.

"It is indeed an irony that Mittal is today called the steel king of the world. His group is the world's largest steel producer without producing a kilo of steel in India," the premier said, according to the Press Trust of India.

"Why is it that they choose foreign shores for growth and expansion rather than their home turf? Is it to do with our industrial environment, our procedures, our bureaucracy and red tape?"

The world's largest steelmaker, Arcelor Mittal, signed a 8.7-billion dollar agreement with the eastern state of Orissa on Thursday to build its first steel plant in the country, a project that will take almost five years to complete.