Opportunities and Challenges of Doing Business in India

Babu Tangewala

CHICAGO: Indian Consul General Amit Kumar delivered a Keynote address in Automation Alley’s virtual conference on “ Opportunities and Challenges of Doing Business in India” held on December 10, 2020.

The conference aimed at discussing trade and investment opportunities in India and prospects for US companies in India. Audience included high-tech manufacturing companies that would be part of the Automation Alley’s next trade mission to India in April 2021. The trade mission will travel to New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. Companies that will be participating in the trade mission will be from Aerospace/defense, Automotive, Advanced Manufacturing (with a focus on industry 4.0), IT/ICT, Environmental and pollution control technologies and Medical and healthcare sectors.

The event was opened by Noel H. Nevshehir, Director of International Business Services and Global Strategic Partnerships, Automation Alley-Troy, Michigan, acknowledging presence of dignitaries in the event. Empathizing on the growth of Indian economy He referred to the Moody’s, report where India’s GDP is projected to grow 5.8% in 2021 as it emerges from the pandemic and to the World Bank report of 2020 highlighting India’s jump by 14 spots this year (from 77 to 63) in ease of doing business among 190 countries. 

In his keynote CG Kumar lauded Automation Alley for directing their efforts and energy in strengthening US-India trade ties. Consul General informed that the bilateral cooperation between India and US is not limited to a few sectors but in fact it is broad-based and multi-sectoral.  The growing engagement in important sectors such as defense, energy, trade and investment, cyber-security, education, science & technology, space technology, health and agriculture has steadily reinforced the India US relations in the past two decades.

 He said that the pandemic may have exposed the fault-lines associated with the current global supply chains but at the same time it has also underscored the need for resilient and reliable partnerships which can withstand shocks and uncertainties. The Pandemic has negatively impacted bilateral trade as it reduced by 25% in the first half of 2020 compared to the previous year.  The bilateral trade with the United States has grown at over 10% annually in the last decade reaching almost 150 billion dollars in 2019. 

India has invested close to 22 billion dollars in USA creating more than 125,000 jobs and adding value and innovation to the US economy. Consul General mentioned that India remains global in its outlook and therefore is focused on scaling up its national capacities by increasing the competitiveness and quality of Indian manufacturing, creating an enabling business environment, improving our skill sets and better integration with global value chains.

This is the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative (self-reliant India) introduced by the Government of India. India should be seen as a dependable partner in global markets. India has the potential, strength and capability. 

Taking forward the process of structural reforms of the last six years, Government has embarked on the path of bold holistic reforms and new initiatives. It is opening up sectors like defense, coal and mineral mining, space, atomic energy, power distribution, social infrastructure sectors to name a few. In fact, FDI norms have been liberalized across 21 sectors. Government has unveiled a new National Education Policy, supply chain reforms for agriculture, rational tax system, labor reforms, simple and clear laws, etc. These reforms are people-centric and will spur business and generate employment.

Consul General also said that US-India economic and commercial partnership is robust and has a promising future and now is the best time to invest in strengthening this partnership.

The other speakers were Ms. SupriyaKanetkar and Ms. SushamaKanetkar, Directors, SRK and Associates-Bengaluru, India. The duo gave an overview of the current business environment in India, how Covid has impacted Indian economy, what are the anticipated market opportunities for Michigan exporters in India in 2021 and how to access those opportunities.

Rophin Paul, Executive Vice President at PARI Robotics in his address informed that Pari Robotics which was the first Indian international company in the Michigan region and today has over 1200 employees worldwide is now a global company with head office in India and wholly owned subsidiaries in the USA and Europe. He also shared the experience of doing business in India from USA. He spoke about the movement of goods and personnel between the two countries.

In the end Jacob Schroeder, International Trade Development Manager, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) elaborated on how MEDC supports companies in Michigan for their overseas business and on.