FDI: Is anybody listening?

Refer to David Karl’s write up, titled, Retail Reverberations on December 9, 2011. The article highlights and exposes the several loopholes of the euphoric-India shining banter. However, today on Capitol Hill will draw enough momentum to show and enhance the contribution of the Indian Corporate Inc to the American economy. This is a CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) report that will be released in front of an audience that will include American academics, statesmen, and other officials. Representatives from Indian conglomerates such as Birlasoft, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, HCL America, ICICI Bank Infosys, L&T, Mahindra Satyam, Ranbaxy, SBI, Suzlon, Tata Communications, and Tata Sons will also be present.

Today’s event on Capitol Hill is expected to banish the misconceptions about Indian firms. This effort by CII is an attempt to rectify stereotypes. It is also an initiative to highlight job creation and creation of further business opportunities in the U.S.

However, in the thick of things, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) still rests on an edgy and precarious angle. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor, assures that India would witness and experience ‘important’ reforms in the next six months. He said, “Among the reforms that will happen, I hope, is, subsidy reform. The Finance Minister talked about this in his budget. “We will try to use the UID system that we are developing to cut down leakage in subsidy.” He added, “In India the leakage is so big that if we can cut this down, it will help cut down our fiscal deficit … So that’s a very important reform, which I think will happen.” He admitted to a ‘slowdown’ in economic growth in India.

In a blighted world of ongoing recession in some parts of the world, there seems to be some hope at the dark end of the tunnel. The Tata India Summit scheduled for this month will be an interaction on India’s contribution to the U.S. and the world economy. It is important to note that FDI is a two-way street and contributions need to be focused.