A delegation of the CII is accompanying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to the U.S. to boost business to business linkage between New Delhi and Washington as the two nations move closer to give new dimensions to their strong economic relationship.
"During the first year of the government, the economic relationship between India and the US has continued to deepen with increase in bilateral trade and investments. The CII delegation to the US is aimed at scaling up business to business relationship between the world's largest and the fastest growing economies," said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.
The CII delegation comprising senior industry leaders, led by Dr. Naushad Forbes, President-Designate, CII and Director, Forbes Marshall Private Limited, include Noel N Tata, Managing Director, Tata International Limited, Rishad Premji, Chief Strategy Officer and Member of the Board, Wipro Limited, Ravi Parthasarathy, Chairman, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd, Y.M. Deosthalee, Chairman and Managing Director, L & T Finance Holdings Limited, Rajan Navani, Managing Director, Jetline Group of Companies and S. Sriniwasan, Chief Executive Officer, Kotak Realty Fund.
During the visit, the CII is organising a number of events and meetings with long-term investors, large U.S. corporations, pension funds and institutional investors to explore the opportunities of increasing long-term investments from the country to India.
Among the meetings being coordinated during the visit, there are discussions being organized with Pension Funds like CalPERS, CalSTRS, University of Stanford Endowment, University of California Endowment and San Francisco Employees Retirement Fund.
There will also be discussions with investment companies like Capricorn Investment Group, Think Investments etc.
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Ahead of the visit, the CII noted that Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from the U.S. have been robust and most large U.S. companies have a footprint in the country across sectors such as manufacturing, services, infrastructure, and agriculture.
However, there is scope for far greater funding commitment from US companies as the quantum of US investment at $13 billion from April 2000 onwards does not match the size of our respective economies. In fact, the Indian investments in the U.S. surpass this figure.
"Cooperation in infrastructure and manufacturing sectors hold tremendous potential for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. With new policies in India, particularly aimed at facilitating the business environment, CII sees huge potential for investment from the US companies," said Banerjee.
Under the 'Make In India' campaign, the government is looking at establishing industrial corridors across the country, including world class infrastructure facilities and connectivity. The Delhi Mumbai Corridor with the participation of Japanese companies is already gaining traction. The U.S. companies may also explore corridor development in alignment with state level policies.
Another key area for investment derives from the recent opening of FDI limits in defence production to speed up indigenization. The two countries have agreed to co-develop and produce defence equipment. Defence industrial parks could be a good area of investment for this purpose.
The 'Smart City' initiative gives huge impetus to urban development and infrastructure. The U.S. enterprises could enter into agreements with the state governments and municipalities in India for specific project development in public transport, urban rail, sanitation, and low-cost housing.
Among other areas, the technology companies can explore the vibrant new start-up environment that is opening up in India. It is estimated that since 2010, start-ups have generated close to $3 billion worth of funding and India has emerged as the fourth largest global market for start-ups.
