No change in India plan: GE chief Immelt

The change in the formation of the new government at the Centre has not altered US-based General Electric Company's strategy or its plans for India.

Rating India's business community high on capability and talent, GE chairman of board and CEO Jeffrey R Immelt said: "India remains an attractive investment option for international companies."

At the same time, Immelt said, "the Indian market has been a disappointment as it has not grown at the rate we expected".

The global CEO compared India's performance with that of China, pointing out how many times faster the Chinese economy has grown, be it in the areas of power, energy, transportation and healthcare.

"While India and China were at the same level in 1990, China has grown 20 times more than India in the area of energy over the last 15 years. Likewise, China's healthcare sector is five times that of India," said Immelt.

Immelt is of the view that the government should not be in the area of manufacturing. "The government should not do anything...it is better off because then the quality standards can go up and costs go down. This is not just in the US but elsewhere in the world."

Addressing the Who's Who of India Inc at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Mumbai, Immelt said while there are great people in India, they will not be able to reach their top capability until infrastructure reaches global standards.

He stressed the importance in India improving the quality of infrastructure, including transportation and health care.

"We are a long-term player and we will be here no matter who is in power because we are optimistic and will wait it out," said Immelt, refraining from talking any further of GE's plans for the country.