Nooyi moots US-India Investment treaty

Business Desk
Outlining a three-point agenda for taking Indo-US ties to a new level, Ms Indra K Nooyi, Chairman, US-India Business Council, said that inclusive growth, investment in education and health, and boosting infrastructure should drive the agenda for industry in both the countries.

Addressing a special roundtable on 'A Fresh Beginning: US-India Relations' and 'The Third Wave of Investment & Reforms here today, the Pepsico Chairman mooted a bilateral investment treaty between the two countries to give a new impetus to trade relations between the two countries. Ms Nooyi said that this would lead to the creation of jobs and opportunities in both the countries.

The roundtable was jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the USIBC.

Ms Nooyi also urged both US and India industry to come together to ensure that the benefits of India's strong growth reaches all facets of Indian society, particularly the rural populace. "We need policies that encourage investment in rural areas, provide vocational skill-building and training that will increase the capacity of the entire system, from primary schools to colleges and post-graduate institutions." This, she said, would enable India to reap the benefits of its demographic profile.

Mr Nooyi said that industry, both from the US and India, should engage one another in partnership. For this, "leadership in both countries must move forwards on executing agreements, including end-use monitoring, to enable and facilitate high technology collaboration.

On fostering inclusive growth, Ms Nooyi said that one way this could be achieved was through agrarian reforms. This was specially true as nearly 68 per cent of India's population lived in the rural areas. "Both US and Indian industry can actively promote agrarian reforms through partnerships and other initiatives, and by disseminating information on global and domestic best practices through the country."

In this context, she also emphasised on the need to build the necessary infrastructure that was needed to widen the markets for the country's agriculture produce." Today, it pains me that nearly 40 per cent of India's harvest-of nearly every crop-gets damaged before it reaches the marketplace."

The USIBC Chairman said that for India to meets its infrastructure needs, massive FDI and private sector investment was needed. "The USIBC will continue to look for further openings in banking, insurance and pensions," Ms Nooyi said, seeking active cooperation from the CII in this regard. Other areas where Indian and US industry could join hands, she noted, were power, roads, clean water, ports, airports and even the defence sector.

In his address, Mr Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, pointed out that the time was right for the US and India to take their partnership to a new level, one that was on an equal footing. Urging US industry to step up investment in India, Mr Sibal said that future decisions would largely be influenced by climate change and energy security.

He said that 'think locally, act locally' should become the new mantra for investors seeking to tap the vast Indian market, given the disparity it has from markets elsewhere. He called for a mixture of affordable and sophisticated technology, ecological balance and investment for sustaining high growth.

Agreeing with Ms Nooyi on the need to step up investment in education and health, Mr Sibal foresaw an immense role for US industry in this regard. He said that this was specially necessary as "India produces about six lakh engineering graduates every year. However, all of them are not employable because their skills are not up to the mark."

Earlier welcoming Mr Kapil Sibal and Ms Nooyi to the roundtable, Mr Gautam Thapar, Group Chairman, Avantha Group, pointed out that the Ms Nooyi's visit as part of a USIBC Executive Mission to India was taking place at an opportune time, coinciding as it did with the civilian nuclear power agreement deal with the US. He said that the time was right for expanding Indo-US dialogue and maximising trade potential between the two countries.