Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), said the India-US relationship is strong and is growing positively in every aspect
Mukesh Aghi, President, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: Shanker Chakravarty
India needs to remove impediments to the ease of doing business, the head of a top Indian-American business advocacy group has said, asserting that the country has made some progress but has a long way to go to match Singapore or Hong Kong.
Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), said the India-US relationship is strong and is growing positively in every aspect.
“When you look at geo-politically, the Quad seems to move forward. You look at I2U2 moving forward,” he told PTI.
Noting that a booming Indian economy is helping the US, he said the Boeing order by Air India created over a million high-paying jobs in America.
“We’re expecting Indigo also to place an order. India is pulling the economic engine of growth for the United States,” Mr. Aghi said.
In one of the largest aircraft orders by an airline, Tata Group-owned Air India last month announced it will buy 470 narrow-body and wide-body planes from Airbus and Boeing, with the total deal value estimated to be worth $80 billion (over ₹6.40 lakh crore).
Air India will buy 250 aircraft, including 40 wide-body A350 planes, from European aviation major Airbus, and 220 planes from US aircraft maker Boeing under separate deals.
“Well, it’s tremendous (momentum). When you look at the FDI, it’s going up. When you look at what’s happening on the manufacturing side, as people are trying to de-risk their position in China they are looking at China plus one strategy, India becomes a good alternative,” said Aghi.
Apple is a classic example, he said, asserting that the company is committed to now making 20 million iPhone 14 in India.
“Then we are looking at other companies which are doing the same thing. So, I think the momentum is there. What we need to do is make sure that we keep removing the impediments and the ease of doing business becomes world-class as we are going to compete for the manufacturing to come from China into India,” Mr. Aghi said.
“I think State Ministers have to, in partnership with the Central Government, look at what are the challenges, for example, labour Law, that is still an impediment. Land acquisition, it has challenges. When you’re trying to build a greenfield project, you have to get multiple permits. Make those easier, smoother,” he said.