Infrastructure biggest hurdle for doing business in India: Survey

Infrastructure is a major deterrent when it comes to the US investing in India, according to a survey of business leaders in both countries conducted by a forum of the Indian-American community.

Half of US executives see robust and substantial business opportunities in India, but unethical business practices and corruption in government departments are key detriments, the survey found.

The "USINPAC Business Barometer" survey was conducted by APCO Insight by AUSIB, the sister concern of US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), with 150 business leaders each from both the US and India.

"The US-India business communities are keen to work with each other and the USINPAC Business Barometer is a testimony to this fact," said USINPAC chairman Sanjay Puri.

USINPAC estimated that a total investment of about $1.5 trillion is required over the next five years to finance India's infrastructure needs and the US would be a key contributor to this, he said.

Highlights:

-- Half of US executives see robust and substantial business opportunities in India. In terms of investments India has the best opportunities.

-- 60 percent of the business executives in India and the US believe they get good ROI when working in the other country.

-- Seven in 10 business leaders interviewed believe that US-India business relations are headed in the right direction and more than eight in 10 expect this relationship to improve over the next few years.

-- From a list of 11 foreign countries, Indian business executives see the most opportunities in the US and US executives say India has the best opportunities

-- 52 percent of US executives believe infrastructure related to power shortages and transportation are the biggest hurdles they see in terms of doing business

-- Unethical business practices and corruption in government departments are two of the other top issues

-- Indian executives face difficulty in obtaining work visas, double taxation and economic uncertainty while doing business in US.

Conducted online between April 21 and May 14, the survey has a 8.0 percentage margin of error, USINPAC said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)