Economic reforms set stage for Modi’s business pitch in US

The new economic reforms unveiled by the Indian government have the potential to create a positive investor sentiment in the US, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to New York and San Francisco from September 24 to 28.

Some of the recent reform initiatives taken by the government include waiving of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FII), reforms in the banking sector, raised Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance and defence to 49 percent from the previous 26 percent.

A delegation of India’s top corporate honchos led by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) visited San Francisco to drum up the India growth story and sought enhanced investments from the world’s largest economy. Speaking at an event organized by CII and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said that the Modi government has had to tackle huge challenges posed by laws and regulations, including in coal and land, and stressed that things are moving on the ground.

Deep Kapuria, Chairman, Hi-Tech Gears Ltd, spoke about tremendous opportunities presented by the Small and Medium Eneterprises (SME) sector where there is burgeoning collaboration between Indian and the US companies and emphasized that much more in terms of supply chain integration could be done.

The primary focus of Mr Modi’s US visit will be to leverage US investments and technology that would help shore up the India growth story and stimulate the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. PM Modi is expected to meet top business leaders and tech giants in New York and Silicon Valley, California, during his second visit to the US. This will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the West Coast in the US in over three decades.

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