Modi visit to US to take India-America ties to new scale; India Inc

India Inc is very optimistic about the ensuing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an impressive 77 per cent of corporate heads and senior management expecting tangible results from the much-awaited PM's meetings with President Barack Obama taking the India- US economic engagement to a further scale from a sizeable level of about USD 150 billion a year, an ASSOCHAM survey has said.

The ASSOCHAM survey covered interaction with 261 corporate heads in the second-third week of September, ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to the US.

With the US accounting for over 60 per cent of India's software exports of USD 100 billion and the merchandise exports and imports totaling about USD 62 billion..along with the two-way foreign direct investment and the portfolio, the India-US annual commercial engagement is well above USD 150 billion. With these cumulative figures, the US is India's largest economic partner holding a greater potential for further scale-up.

 

As many as 67 per cent of the respondents in the ASSOCHAM survey said they would expect the Obama-Modi personal chemistry to be a high point of the forthcoming visit. In fact, India Inc expects this very chemistry to then reflect on a whole range of issues which confront the India-US economic engagement, be it divergent views in WTO, issues on visas for IT professionals, non-tariff barriers from the Indian side or national treatment demand by the US on solar equipment in India or opening of the retail and financial sector ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr D S Rawat said.

Mr Rawat said the way Mr Modi has gone about building bridges with the Chinese President Mr Xi Jinping and a personal chemistry with the Japanese Prime Minister Mr Shinzo Abe clearly points to his capabilities for striking similar friendship with President Obama. Between China and Japan, the Prime Minister has already received commitment of investment of USD 55 billion from them.

In any case, the shift of stance of the Obama Administration towards India under the Prime Minister Modi is evident from a number of signals, the latest being naming of American - Indian Richard Verma as the Ambassador to India, the survey report noted.

To a question whether Mr Modi 's interaction with business leaders in the US and other policy-influencing people will register a new imprint about India's investment climate, an overwhelming 82 per cent of CEOs and corporate leaders in India said the perception has already changed for better and the Prime Minister 's personal interaction with them will further improve it.

His track record of governance in Gujarat as the Chief Minister is being talked about among investors who believe that Mr Modi will display similar determination along with his ministers to clear the bottlenecks in big time projects in sectors like infrastructure, the ASSOCHAM report said.

Mr Rawat said the industry expects that the government will deliver on the Prime Minister's promise in Japan that a red carpet treatment will be extended to investors instead of red tape.

But the expectation level around Mr Modi's visit to the US is greater than some of his last visits to Japan and the neighbouring countries.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News