New Delhi, August 12, 2024: The American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM), the leading apex chamber of U.S. industry in India, and the only one based in India, successfully concluded AMCHAM’s U.S.-India Partnership Summit 2024 in New Delhi on August 8, 2024. The Summit emphasized on collaborative efforts to advance India’s vision for a Viksit Bharat 2047 with support from American businesses.

The summit, held alongside AMCHAM’s 32nd Annual General Meeting, explored avenues for deepening U.S.-India economic ties and driving India towards its goal of becoming the world’s third-largest economy by 2047.

Key highlights of the Summit:

• Strategic discussions: Panels deliberated on strategies for achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2030, highlighting the potential of iCET and strategic trade dialogues. Emphasis was placed on empowering future generations through innovative education policies and leveraging India’s young, skilled workforce to accelerate growth.
• Investment opportunities: The session on ‘India: Key Destination for U.S. Investments’ focused on transforming India into a tech-savvy and inclusive labor market, with attention to climate considerations and sustainable practices.
• Smart infrastructure: Discussed smart and sustainable infrastructure for faster economic growth and the need for an integrated supply chain, integrated technology solutions and the role of AI in optimizing complex systems for smart city development.
• Energy and decarbonization: The session on the energy landscape in India underscored India’s commitment to climate goals, with a focus on carbon capture and utilization, and the role of U.S. technology in supporting India’s transition to net-zero emissions.

 Notable attendees from the Government of India:

• Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog
• Mr. S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India
• Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India
• Ms. D. Thara, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India
• Mr. Balamurugan D. IAS, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade

 The Summit had a special address by Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat who highlighted India’s ambitious climate goals and the critical role of U.S. industry in advancing technological innovation and achieving net zero targets. He mentioned that historically, average carbon emissions by India have been much lower than the same from developed countries of the world.

Key takeaways:

• The summit threw light on the growing investment from U.S. companies in India, currently valued at $66 billion, and explored ways to enhance this engagement.
•  Discussions emphasized the need for India and the U.S. to collaborate on sustainable practices and advanced technologies to drive mutual growth.

 Commenting on the summit theme Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM said, “with India on the brink of becoming the world’s third-largest economy the insights on the U.S.-India partnership shared today will be fruitful in exploring fresh opportunities for economic collaboration in critical technologies, core competencies focused on research and innovation and skill development.”

Notes to the editor:

Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, expressed his gratification for attending the summit and reflected on his previous interactions with AMCHAM. He emphasized the importance and value of the partnership between India and the U.S. particularly from a trade and commerce perspective, highlighting the connections made between people and trade. He informed that trade between India and the U.S. reached $191 billion in 2023, marking the highest level to date, which he described as a source of great satisfaction and happiness. Mr. Agrawal further discussed U.S. investments in India, which currently account for 10% of total investments, and the participation of Indian investments in the U.S., which amounted to $40 billion in 2023. He acknowledged the role of both government and private sector involvement. He further proposed that attention should be given to the agriculture, non-agriculture, and defence sectors to which he believes that the U.S. should open its market to India, considering the significant potential of the Indian agricultural market.

Mr. Balamurugan D. IAS, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India highlighted how India has ambition to reach $32 trillion economy by 2047 as celebration of 100 years of independence. For India to achieve the status of the world’s third-largest economy, it must grow at a rate comparable to the fastest-growing economies globally. This ambition is supported by a young population under 29 years old as a strong democracy and dynamic states. Key factors include improvements in ease of doing business through DPIIT and its divisions, which are facilitating advancements in areas such as energy transition and the green hydrogen mission with $2 billion in incentives. Other initiatives include EV policies, a target to use 50% renewable energy by 2030 and a commitment to net zero by 2070. He further informed significant opportunities in sectors such as defence, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and automobiles. The Indian government is implementing initiatives to ensure stable investments at the state level by enhancing ease of doing business. The PLI schemes is simplifying manufacturing processes with success of mobile exports from India. Other notable programs include defence licensing, the PM Gati Shakti program for multi-modal connectivity, and national logistics policies. These efforts including the industrial corridor program which is aimed to uplift manufacturing growth and improving connectivity.

Mr. S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India underlined how both hardware and software part of technology are converging and presenting challenges as horizontal technologies. Government of India needs to represent all the levels of society from suburbs or major cities. There is need to address how technology can bind together various sectors and build to $1 trillion economy. Today the call is to engage and create awareness in the segments graduates of STEM then BPO and go further down the line and connecting them to grow the digital sector. Indians possessing a set of work values that can offer solutions for our economy. There is constant need of skilling and re-skilling in all sectors which will help economy grow.

Ms. D. Thara, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India discussed the AMRUT 2.0 mission, which focuses on sewerage networks and water supply for urban transformation, with ₹1.60 lakh crore worth of projects approved across 3,300 cities. She highlighted the issuance of ₹1.10 lakh crore in government tenders and mentioned the ₹1.5 lakh crore Swachh Bharat Mission for cleanliness and waste management.

Ms. Thara urged AMCHAM to act as a bridge between U.S. and Indian companies, fostering collaboration, providing updates on government tenders, and improving project quality. She also encouraged businesses to showcase their technology through demonstration projects to participate in future developments.

AMCHAM also launched an e-book on ‘Partners in Progress: U.S. Industry in India’ showcasing the strong people to people ties in addition to the economic partnership between the U.S. and India. U.S. companies have been operating in India since 1902, actively engaged in India’s inclusive growth story and collectively, they are at the forefront of innovation and ground-breaking research and development across sectors, committed to social upliftment, impacting millions of lives, generating livelihood, and encouraging entrepreneurship, across the country. The e-book highlights the collective efforts and remarkable impact of 58 organizations.