Pepsi’s Nooyi, MasterCard chief Banga in Obama’s team to India
19 Jan 2015
Among the US business leaders joining President Barak Obama on his India visit will be the Mcgraw Hill Financial chairman Harold Mcgraw, along with PepsiCo chairperson Indra Nooyi and MasterCard president Ajay Banga, both of Indian origin.
The US President arrives in India on Sunday; and next week Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Obama will address the US corporate heads in back-to-back meetings.
The first business meeting will be of the recently reconstituted India-US CEO Forum. Honeywell chairman David Cote will co-chair the meeting with Tata Sons CEO Cyrus Mistry.
Smart cities, joint defence production, manufacturing in India and infrastructure will be key subjects that would be discussed, according to an Economic Times report citing sources. The focus will be on specific suggestions on increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2020.
Later, Modi and Obama will interact with the business chiefs in the US-India Business Council meeting. The report, citing sources, said American business heads are keen on hearing Modi's views on tax structure, land acquisition and rules and regulations for doing businesses in India, besides the much-talked-about 'big ticket reforms'. They are likely to seek clarity over successfully implementing PM Modi's 'Make in India' campaign.
Retrospective taxes and intellectual property rights over drugs are also likely to figure in the talks.
During Modi's September visit to the US, both countries had decided on American support for smart cities in Ajmer, Vishakapatnam and Allahabad. Cisco, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Dell, which have expertise in smart city projects, are keen on partnering India.
Four India-US working groups already in place on agriculture, IPR, manufacturing and services are also expected to receive focus during Obama's visit.
