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After wooing Japanese investments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to attract more funds from the US for infrastructure development.
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), on Monday, floated a Cabinet note on setting up a joint mechanism with the US for smooth flow of funds into the country’s infrastructure sector with an estimated investment deficit of $1 trillion.
“As per the proposal, Government officials from India would help in identifying infrastructure projects that need funding while officials from the US would shortlist American companies that are interested in investing their money,” a DIPP official said.
Smart cities and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor are among the areas of possible cooperation proposed by the US during US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker visit in the last week of July.
The US, which is India’s second largest trading partner after China, has already given a green-signal to the final note prepared by the DIPP. Once the Cabinet note on the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) passes muster with other Ministries and is approved by the Cabinet, it will be ready to be signed.
The formalisation of the MoU is likely to take place during Modi’s visit to the US later this month and show-cased as one of the top achievements of the visit, the official added.
It was Pritzker who gave the initial draft MoU on US-India Infrastructure Initiative to Indian officials to work on.
US firms keen“American companies are eager to invest in India but get intimidated by the processes and procedures involved. The bilateral platform will help the companies to sort out all issues including acquiring land and getting clearances,” the official said.
Pritzker also discussed cluster-related initiatives, identification of projects and details of a forthcoming bilateral investment summit in her meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
India has a wide array of projects for investors to choose from. Investments can be made in the ambitious road sector projects carried out by the National Highways Development Programme, the industrial corridors being developed by the DIPP, railway projects, where foreign investment rules have recently been liberalised, and power sector projects.
The BJP Government announced an investment of ₹7,060 crore in this year’s Budget for development of 100 smart cities in the country with upgraded infrastructure and services as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernising existing mid-sized cities.
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