Cii Launches New Drive To Hardsell India Abroad
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is spearheading a new drive to hardsell India Inc to foreign investors worried by the recent political upheavals in New Delhi.
The CIIs globetrotting secretary-general Tarun Das travelled to Washington last month to pitch Indias case on Capitol Hill. Das addressed a select meeting of US Congressmen and senators on the Indian economy and the opportunities for Americans companies. It was an important first because invitations to speak on Capitol Hill are rare.
In the next few weeks, the state governments are also reviving into action to promote their respective states. First of the mark this week was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh who arrived in London at the head of a team of 20 influential industrialists from the state. We have had an extremely positive response, he said.
Digvijay Singh is spending three days in the UK and then heading to the US. He is aiming to persuade international firms to take part in the Intechmart fair taking place this year.
This participation, he hopes, will lure more industries to set up shop in the state. The government too is moving into overdrive to win friends and influence foreign investors. Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian has been sent to the US at the head of a 20-member delegation to drum up billions for infrastructure mega projects. Subramanian told US investors that India needs $ 250 billion in the next 10 years for power plants, roads, ports, pipelines and telecommunications.
Subramanian who is visiting New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco is also trying to persuade American businessmen that India is back in business after the fall of the Deve Gowda government and the subsequent political horse-trading and uncertainty.
Other government figures have also been on the move. Finance minister P Chidambaram made a tightly-scheduled one-week trip to Germany and the UK earlier this month where he met top industrialists and senior political leaders.
I told them that this government means business, said Chidambaram.
At the state level, Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel is out to promote Karnataka which has long been a favourite destination for foreign investors.
Patel will be in London later this month with a team of senior industrialists and bureaucrats.
The CII too will be sending out high-powered teams to Germany, Japan, UK and the US. And while these trips are a regular summer ritual, this time the CII is sending some of its biggest names ever. Coming to the UK later this month are businessmen like Rahul Bajaj. Moreover, there are signs that these delegations are getting a more high-level response than ever before and meeting senior foreign industrialists.
The CII will be selling India in a series of events to coincide around the time of the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence. In July, the chamber will be staging the Made in India fair in Manchester, which will be one of the largest ever staged.
The fresh bid to sell India comes at a time when foreign direct investment is rising sharply. Indias foreign exchange reserves have hit an all-time high of $28.2 billion. In London, Chidambaram said he expects foreign direct investment to swell to $ 10 billion by 2000.