Investment Conditions Better Outside India, Says Pallone

United States Congressman Frank Pallone yesterday said countries competing for American investment dollars make conditions much easier for foreign investors compared with India.

It is not all that difficult for an American to invest here. But Indias competitors for American investment dollars just make it so much easier, he said.

Investors are not just satisfied to know they can go to the court, said Pallone, who is also the co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India. He was speaking at an interactive meeting with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The Congressional Caucus seeks to bring the two nations closer politically, diplomatically and economically.

 

Referring to Enron, Pallone said it was held up as a typical example of what could happen to investments in India.

However, vice president of the Dabhol Power Company Ashok Mehta said the $2.8 billion project had achieved financial closure in a record time of four years.

We hope to complete the project by the end of 1998, Mehta said, stressing that the end result had been positive for both sides.

Welcoming the economic orientation of the Indo-US relationship in the last few years, Pallone said while American investments in power and telecommunications had come in, there was not much talk of investing in basic infrastructure in the roads, ports and highways sectors.

CII president Shekhar Datta said once the independent regulatory authorities were set up in these sectors, there would be a higher inflow of investments into these areas.

He asserted that liberalisation was on course in India, despite the apparent contradictions in the stance of the 13-party United Front coalition at the Centre.

On restrictions on the travel of Indian professionals to the US, especially software professionals, Datta said there should be some kind of quid pro quo from the US in this regard. Pallone said the opposition to immigration had already peaked and promised to personally look into the matter of restrictions on Indian software professionals.