Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out on a three-day tour to the US from 22-25 September for attending the first in-person Quad Summit and began his visit schedule in the US on 23rd, Thursday by attending a session with prominent American CEOs from five different key sectors and appraised them on the business opportunities and key benefits of company registration in India.
Modi landed in the US on Wednesday and held face-to-face meetings with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris and ahead of these official meetings met the CEOs of Qualcomm, Adobe, First Solar, General Atomics and Blackstone.
Two of the CEOs were Indian-Americans named Shantanu Narayen from Adobe and Vivek Lall from General Atomics. The other three were Cristiano E Amon from Qualcomm, Mark Widmar from First Solar, and Stephen A Schwarzman from Blackstone.
During his one-to-one meetings with the CEOs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi deliberated on the economic opportunities in India and emphasized saying,
“Will attend the QUAD meeting, and would also interact with leading CEOs to highlight economic opportunities in India.”
Modi’s meeting with the American CEOs from five key areas echoed the policies and priorities of the Indian government.
Meeting with Adobe CEO meant that the IT and digitization of the economy has been the topmost priority of the Indian government.
The meeting with Vivek Lall was significant considering General Atomics as a pioneer in drone technologies and one of the leading manufacturers of state-of-the-art military drones. General Atomics has already provided India with a few drones and is in the process of supplying a significant number of drones for Indian defence. The CEO of General Atomics was born in Indonesia and presently settled in California, for more than 10 years. He has been responsible for finalizing defence deals with American allies and clinched a business of USD 18 billion. The US only allows sharing of advanced defence technologies to its partners. Qualcomm is the global leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technology innovation for more than 30 years and pioneering the ways to 5G connectivity. The meeting with Qualcomm CEO, Cristiano Amon was important in the face of India’s push for the 5G technology adoption and revealed the company’s commitment to fulfilling Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming his country into a digitally empowered society. The San Diego-based company is in the manufacturing of software, semiconductors and services related to wireless technology and has offices in India. Large investments from Qualcomm were expected by the Indian PM.
As India is harnessing solar power for a prosperous rural India and taking huge initiatives in meeting its energy demand from clean and renewable energy, the meeting with Mark Widmar, the CEO of First Solar assumed significance as the company is the leader in providing comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) solar solutions globally.
The Arizona-based company has already recognized India’s geographic location as most conducive for solar power generation and announced a 3.3 GW of capacity solar plant in India with a USD 684 million project cost.
Blackstone is reputed around the world as a professionally managed investment firm that invests capital on behalf of pension funds, hedge funds, large institutions and individuals. Stephen A. Schwarzman is the Chairman, CEO, and Co-founder of this company and in 2019 has launched the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in India with Embassy group and then another two REITs in the country. The company asserted that it would invest another USD 40 billion in India over the next five years.
PM Modi also interacted with the CEOs from the US oil and gas sectors to discuss plans for addressing the country’s growing energy needs.
“It is impossible to come to Houston and not talk energy! Had a wonderful interaction with leading energy sector CEOs. We discussed methods to harness opportunities in the energy sector,” Modi remarked.
The American CEOs appreciated India’s moves in promoting doing business in India and welcomed measures taken by Modi’s government to liberalise the Indian economy including corporate tax structure revision. The CEOs assured their business presence in India and thanked the PM for the support initiatives being undertaken by his government. A complete guide on doing business in India can facilitate business setup in the country for aspiring American companies and investors.
