Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo during the India-U.S. CEO Forum, in Washington DC, USA.
| Photo Credit: PTI

India and the U.S. discussed business opportunities to increase American investments in the planned industrial cities in the country to boost two-way economic ties, an official statement said on Thursday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo held discussions in Washington DC, it said.

Mr. Goyal is on an official visit to the US. He co-chaired the sixth India-US CEO Forum with Raimondo.

“We also discussed opportunities for US investments in upcoming 20 industrial cities in India to foster mutual growth,” Mr. Goyal said.

The Union Cabinet has approved 12 new industrial cities in 10 states to boost domestic manufacturing with an estimated investment of ₹28,602 crore.

Spanning across 10 states and strategically planned along six major corridors, these projects represent a significant leap forward in India’s quest to enhance its manufacturing capabilities and economic growth.

These industrial areas will be located in Khurpia in Uttrakhand, Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab, Dighi in Maharashtra, Palakkad in Kerala, Agra and Prayagraj in UP, Gaya in Bihar, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Orvakal and Kopparthy in AP, and Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan.

The India-U.S. CEO Forum platform allow private sector members to develop and provide recommendations to the Indian and US governments that reflect the private sector’s views, concerns and suggestions about the creation of an environment in which the bilateral economic links are strengthened.

The forum is co-chaired from Private Sector by N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, and James Taiclet, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin.

This is the third time the Forum has been convened since its reconstitution in November 2022 by the Governments of India and the USA and saw participation from 16 CEOs.

The CEOs, under the seven working groups, presented priority areas to create stronger partnerships and boost growth across various critical areas such as Entrepreneurship and Promoting Small Businesses, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, Aerospace and Defence, ICT and Digital Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Environment, Infrastructure and Manufacturing, Financial Services, Trade and Investments, among others.

“Both sides deliberated on the progress made as of the last meeting of the Forum in March 2023, including the launching of innovation handshake and a knowledge sharing platform called NIHIT (Network for Innovation and Harnessing Investments and Trade),” the ministry said.

No rethink on FDI curbs in multi-brand retail sector

There will be no rethink on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) curbs in the Multi-Brand Retail sector, said Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal early Friday.

Noting that several U.S. investors had brought up the issue, Mr. Goyal said: “That’s a No-No. I want to make it loud and clear… America has suffered the consequences of big tech and large retailers and the interplay leading to the almost annihilation of Mom and Pop stores… You could afford it because your population is much smaller, there are alternate avenues for people to do jobs in, and probably you are satisfied that now the rest of the youngsters will probably be just sales or delivery boys or delivery girls. That’s a choice each country makes. India has nearly 100 million small mom and pop stores across the length and breadth of the country. In every village that you go to there will be 10 or 12 small stores selling different products and services. There will be a pharmacy in almost every corner. We believe that they play a very important role and we want them to be integrated with technology and e-commerce, or get a chance to withstand the business practices of e-commerce companies but we are not looking at changing the rules of e-commerce.” 

(With PTI inputs)