These are small details of just two of the 20 deals signed or re-announced during on the first day of President Barack Obama’s visit to India. A dollar-by-dollar and job-by-job account by the United States government of even small-ticket deals underlines the centrality that US President Barack Obama has accorded to trade ties between the two countries.
“Business and economy clearly is at the heart of the strategic relationship that US is committed to build with India,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry. Twenty deals worth $10 billion and 53,670 US jobs on Day 1 of Obama’s visit may have left some Indian politicians and corporate honchos anxious, but a closer look reveals the extent of unexploited trade ties between the two countries.
With India continuously enjoying a surplus in its $36.5 billion bilateral trade with the US, the US embassy in India took care to highlight the details of the 20 deals: their size ranges from $1 million to $4.1 billion. And the jobs these will support (not necessarily create) range from just about 5 to 22,160. In all, the embassy said the deals will support 53,670 jobs.
President Obama, who is accompanied by a 200-plus industry contingent, sought to project what India’s huge markets can potentially offer to US businesses. He pitched for increased market access and easy foreign investment norms, especially in sectors such as retail. “His attempt is to change perception back home ? about what India can do for the US,” said Banerjee.
“India is the United States’ 12th largest trading partner. It could be number one or two if the conditions for trade between these two giant economies continue to improve,” said Harold Terry McGraw III, Chairman and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, also the Chairman of the US-India Business Council.
Just four of the 20 deals — Indian Air Force’s pact with Boeing to buy 10 C-17 transport aircraft ($4.1 billion), Spicejet’s definitive agreement to purchase 30 B737-800s ($2.7 billion), Reliance Power’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GE to buy turbines ($750 million) ? account for almost three-fourth of the $10 billion big-ticket announcement. And all of them have been in the works for almost a year now.