US mulls consulate in Hyderabad

The US Embassy in India is looking at the possibility of opening a consulate in Hyderabad to supplement the one at Chennai to meet its needs in south India.

A decision on the issue has not yet been taken. It's just an indication of our thinking, said US Ambassador to India David C Mulford at an interaction with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday.

During the course of the interaction, Mulford identified a key issue that has had an adverse impact on US firms' investment in Indian infrastructure projects.

When a change in government holds the possibility of a change in some conditions that govern infrastructure projects, it has an adverse impact on investment, he said. He added that India has begun to overcome the problem.

Mulford was asked to compare China and India as investment decision, especially with reference to the financial sector by the CII members.

Mulford emphasised that India was the better place to invest in from a long-term perspective, even if China provided advantages such as speed in government decision making.

He pointed out that the Chinese system had a critical "unresolved" issue, which had a bearing on long-term investment decisions.

The critical issue was that China had not yet dealt with a monolithic political structure that governed its commercial structure.

Mulford felt that China's financial system was also fragile because lending was not based only on commercial principles. In relation, India had a good financial system, but needed to move faster into the future, he added.