CII calls for reforms in US laws, procedures

Industry body CII today called for reforms in the "cumbersome" US laws and procedures to facilitate Indian companies' collaboration with their American counterparts, especially in the defence sector.
"The cumbersome procedures of the US government are such that Indian companies are unable to meet the regulations or get the necessary approvals to work with US companies in the defence sector," Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said in an interview to the National Bureau of Asian Research.
"We need more business-to-business defence collaboration, instead of just government-to-government dialogue," Banerjee said.
US companies, he said, needs to be enabled to form defence technology and manufacturing partnerships with India, as the improved business environment is opening up co- development and co-production opportunities currently being leveraged by European and Israeli defence companies.

"Modifying US laws and procedures to facilitate business-to-business collaboration would truly create a win- win situation for Indian and US companies, as well as for both governments as they seek to ramp up the security and strategic partnership," Banerjee said in response to a question.
Noting that President Donald Trump has a very ambitious agenda of job creation at all levels through onshoring manufacturing and services, he said for both the leaders the common theme of jobs will resonate.

"Prime Minister Modi will surely want to highlight how the bilateral economic partnership with India is resulting in job-related dividends for Americans. Bilateral trade of over USD 100 billion in goods and services creates jobs for American workers, while investments by US companies in India have created ancillary jobs in the US, given the nature of global supply chains," he said.

"Sales by US defence companies of over USD 10 billion also keeps US defence manufacturing units humming. Prime Minister Modi may want to further highlight the significant contributions of Indian companies to the US job growth, which is a story going beyond the H-1B visa debate," he said ahead of the Modi-Trump meeting.
The CII's 2015 survey found that 100 Indian companies have created 91,000 jobs in the US with investments of over USD 15.3 billion, he added.
Banerjee said since his election in 2014, Modi has has embarked on an impressive agenda of innovative economic reforms and social programmes that have positively impacted growth.

The advances in infrastructure, manufacturing, and social sectors and the governments' numerous campaigns, including Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities, and Clean Energy, are geared towards achieving the goal of economic growth within the shortest time frame, he said.
Macroeconomic indicators such as the fiscal deficit, inflation, and the current account deficit are at stable levels. This is no mean feat given the slowdown in the global economy, he noted.
"The biggest reform coming up is the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is likely to be a game changer for India. The GST involved building consensus across 29 states and is expected to be introduced on July 1," Banerjee said.

"Once rolled out, it will turn India into a truly common market for the first time, reducing massive inefficiencies and providing transparency in tax collection and compliance," said the CII head.
"Prime Minister Modi had campaigned on the platform of development. Given the complexity of the political landscape in India, his efforts at achieving cohesion on a range of challenging issues such as tax reform are particularly noteworthy," he said.