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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for a reciprocal approach on the policy of outsourcing between India and US and emphasised the need to address protectionism issues.
Addressing these issues will unlock a number of doors and pave the way for rapid growth in bilateral trade between the two countries, Singh said.
Speaking at a national conclave organised by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the Home Minister said the bilateral trade has grown from $19 billion in 2009-2010 to over $100 billion in 2014 and has a potential to go up by five times if more segments, beyond the traditional areas, are looked into.
A focussed look at rural India’s potential, where agriculture, post-harvest and value-addition areas, development of rural infrastructure, including taking the optical fibre cable up to village level, will offer opportunities. Participants at the meet on ‘Increasing US India trade to $500 billion’, hosted here, expect to see a quantum jump in bilateral trade as both the countries are no longer merely business partners but have gone on to become strategic partners.
Youth power Singh said, “The youth power in India will be a major asset for the US companies and together if they take up manufacturing in India, it will provide a big boost to the economy as India encourages Make in India.”
Referring to the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US and his own visit sometime next month, the Union Minister said, “These visits and meetings will go a long way in further strengthening our relationships in the aerospace and defence sector and infrastructure while also tapping into new and emerging areas of smart cities and Digital India programme.”
Channelise opportunities The focus so far has been on opportunities in urban India and potential for industries, but the real untapped area, which could be a game changer, is rural India. A number of States have shown over 10 per cent growth in agriculture, a sector which is seen as unremunerative. “This only shows that rural India offers immense scope for growth. But we need to channelise the opportunities to attract investments,” he said.
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