NewDelhi: India needs to attract at least USD 100 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) each year to reach its targeted USD 5 trillion economy, Mukesh Aghi, the president of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISP) has claimed. A major portion of this is likely to come from the United States, he added.
According to him, India needs to look at what it needs to do to attract that FDI and technology, for fuelling this growth.US, on the other hand, India also needs to leverage vaccination diplomacy, make Indian factories produce these vaccines so they can be shipped to the rest of the world. India can make this vaccine at much cheaper rates as compared to anybody other in the globe, he narrated.
Notably, the current size of the Indian economy is close to USD 2.7 trillion.
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The organization, which presently has over 300 Fortune 500 companies as its members, completed its fourth year, last week. Mukesh Aghi established USISPF in collaboration with several American corporate leaders after quitting as the head of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) four years back. The reason behind his exit was the difference of opinion he had with the then leadership of US Chambers of Commerce on certain key issues
Within this short span, USISPF has emerged as the apex India-centric advocacy group for US-based companies and has played host to top leaders from both the US and India, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Moving forward, the India-US relationship is going to evolve positively, he opined.
On the security front, however, he felt India’s non-involvement in the USA’s Afghanistan withdrawal felt like getting left out on the whole issue. But overall, geopolitically the approach has been very strong and very positive,” Aghi felt.
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PM Modi has given a call to make India a 5 trillion economy by 2025 but Covid induced lockdown and the economic slump has slowed the momentum and acted as an impediment.
