‘Indian investors saved 65,000 jobs in US’

NEW DELHI - Indians are not taking away jobs in the US, instead they have created and saved 65,000 jobs in the recent years through increased investments, an official of an Indian industry chamber said Wednesday.

“Recent Indian acquisitions have created and saved 65,000 jobs in the US. A total of 374 acquisitions have been made and 127 greenfield projects have been set up in the US by Indian investors,” said Amit Mitra, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

He said growth of India’s outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) has exceeded global FDI inflow, as a result of progressive liberalisation in Indias overseas investment policy.

India has emerged as the second-fastest growing investor in the US, after the United Arab Emirates, said FICCI and Ernst & Young in a joint report Wednesday.

Indian companies made 536 outbound acquisitions globally in fiscal 2009-10, of which 105 were in the US. In the first quarter of current fiscal, Indian companies completed 101 outbound acquisitions of which nearly one-fourth were in the US.

Indias Ambassador to US Meera Shankar said Indian companies invested $5.5 billion in American greenfield projects between 2004-09.

In mergers and acquisition of companies in the US, Indian companies invested $20 billion in the last five years.

“We would like to see more US companies invest in Indias infrastructure sector, through FDI or through putting together a financial package to fund such projects, Shankar said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama, accompanied by a large number of corporate heads, arrives in Mumbai this weekend on an official visit to India. Business will be on top of his agenda during the Nov 6-9 visit.

Indias rapidly expanding economy, along with its thriving consumer market and the availability of skilled personnel has been instrumental in attracting several US companies to invest in the country, said FICCI President Rajan Bharti Mittal.

Simultaneously, as regulations in India continue to be liberalized, the focus shifted from simply attracting inbound investments to actually investing abroad, Mittal said.

On outsourcing controversies, Mittal said: One area of outsourcing should not be seen as a fulcrum of the Indo-US engagement. The relation need to be judged in its totality, just as some European nations have started looking at their engagement with India.

The report revealed that since the economic downturn, Indian outward FDI declined from $16.20 billion to $10.30 billion. However, the US has emerged as the preferred destination.

Sectoral analysis shows that IT and IT-enabled services, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors have been the most active. These sectors collectively accounted for 60 percent of the total deals over the last two years.