Indian companies have invested close to $17 billion in the US: ambassador Arun K. Singh

Singh addresses a meet hosted by the USIBC.

AB Wire

WASHINGTON, DC: India’s new ambassador to the US, Arun K. Singh, laid out India’s recent dynamic economic progress, ease of norms for doing business in the country, and joint initiatives with the US on a variety of fronts, speaking at a meet hosted by the US-India Business Council, here, on May 6.

Speaking of the reform agenda of the Indian government, led by prime minister Narenda Modi, Singh said India has “pushed forward with the reform agenda at a remarkable speed, focusing on infrastructure development, manufacturing, technological advancement, skills development and financial inclusion, through new and innovative programs like Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities and the Jan Dhan Yojana,” with a vision of making India a global manufacturing hub, with state of the art infrastructure and a skilled workforce.

Recent reforms by the Indian government have been aimed at improving the ease of doing business in and with India, said Singh.

“Procedures have been simplified, including creating a single window for a number of services. A high level committee is working to recommend a simpler mechanism to start a business in India. A land ordinance has been issued for expediting land acquisition for key infrastructure projects. A new Foreign Trade Policy for 2015-20 has been released, with a special emphasis on improving the ease of doing business,” he said.

He added: “Special attention is also being devoted to providing a transparent and predictable tax regime for investors. Soon after assuming office, the government clarified rules on transfer pricing and introduced procedures like safe harbor provisions. A roadmap for reducing corporate tax from 30% to 25% has been announced in the recent budget. The GST Bill has been tabled in Parliament with the intention of implementing it by April next year.”

Singh added that India has seen liberalization of FDI in several sectors including defense, railways, medical devices, insurance and pension funds. Latest figures show a 30% jump in FDI received by India during April 2014 to February 2015 amounting to $ 41.22 billion. A similar growth was registered by portfolio investment rising to $42.35 billion in 2014.

“India is emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an expected growth rate of 7.5% this year and over 8% next year,” he said.

Speaking of Indo-US ties, which have blossomed under Modi and president Barack Obama, Singh said: “Our defence cooperation has emerged as a major pillar of the India-U.S. strategic partnership, with the renewal of the Defence Framework Agreement, collaboration for joint research, technology transfers and co-development and co-production of defence systems. Liberalization of FDI in the defence sector will serve to further boost this relationship. The government has recently revised the initial validity of industrial licenses for defense sector to seven years, extendable up to three years, to further promote the ease of doing business in this sector in view of the long gestation period of defense contracts.”

Singh pointed out that an India-US Investment Initiative has been established to facilitate FDI, portfolio investment, capital market development and financing of infrastructure. Likewise, a US-India Infrastructure Collaboration Platform has been set up to promote deployment of cutting edge U.S technologies to meet India’s infrastructure needs in power, urbanization, shipping, and freight transportation, among others. An inter-ministerial committee has also been constituted to fast-track investment proposals from U.S. companies and address implementation related issues.

“In the energy sector, civil nuclear energy and solar energy are two areas with a high growth potential where we expect enhanced cooperation in future. An ambitious solar energy target of 100 gigawatts, by 2022, has been set, which will offer new opportunities, for India-U.S. clean energy partnership,” he said.

Singh said that the Make in India program, the smart cities initiative and the Digital India program have opened up several opportunities for collaboration with US companies. He noted that the US has agreed to partner with India on developing three major cities (Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam) as smart cities.

“Equally, the Indian industry has enhanced its presence in the US economy, making huge investments, creating jobs and generating incomes. We have Indian companies in IT, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and automobiles which are forging ahead in their respective areas to build close ties with their local communities. As per an industry estimate, Indian companies have invested close to $17 billion in the US,” said Singh.