Indian IT companies employed 2.8 lakh in US in 2011: Nirupama Rao
27 Jul 2012
Indian IT companies have supported 2.8 jobs in the US in 2011 even as they brought in over $5 billion in investments – both in acquisitions and green field projects - India's ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said.
"Our IT companies supported 280,000 jobs in the US last year….The IT companies have invested more than 5 billion dollars in FDI through acquisitions and green-field projects," Rao said while addressing an Asia Society function in Washington yesterday.
She said unemployment in the US is confined to the manufacturing sector and the technology space is almost fully engaged.
"The unemployment rate in the tech-space in this country is much lower than in manufacturing and that is where the effort is concentrated we believe today - to get back the jobs in manufacturing to this country," she said.
Yet, she said, bilateral trade and economic relationship between the two countries are not anywhere near US-China trade.
"The voices of Indian companies and business interests are often unheard in the audio stream of voices from the US side that are constantly urging India to 'do more' on the reform front," she said.
She also wondered whether the US sufficiently understood the political economy of India. However, she said, "There is no question of the tide of economic reform in India being reversed."
