Obama's India visit - Economic Impact

OBAMA’s  VISIT  TO  INDIA:  Economic  Impact

Modi's ‘chai par charcha ‘goes beyond improving the bilateral political relations between the 2 countries. The economic impact that stems from Obama’s visit ,despite being for only 3 days ,could have an impact that would last for 30 years.
Explaining economically, Obama’s 3 day visit=Next 30 years impact, keeping other factors constant.
Here’s a key list of issues taken up by Modi and Obama that could have a major impact on the superpower and a future superpower.

1. Civil Nuclear Deals To Be Finalized: One of the most important decisions taken after Obama’s visit to India was breaking the deadlock on Civil Nuclear deals, which was stuck since last decade. India agreed to amend few of its clauses related with Insurance, and in return US pledged to make it go live. This deal will help in solving several problems such as energy needs, industrialization progress among others.

 2. Inflow of foreign capital: Establishing a business in India is marked by red tapism. A smoother flow of foreign capital by US firms into the Indian projects(Make in India, Smart cities particularly) could aid investment and hence could boost the Indian economy.

3. UN Security Council: India has its eyes fixated on the coveted position of being a permanent member of the UN security council. Obama’s word of nominating India for this post could land India a lot of international power and pave the way to becoming a superpower.

4. $1 Billion Assistance for Indian SMEs: US Government’s business development and finance arm: U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will give an assistance of $1 billion for Micro- SMEs and SMEs from rural and urban India.
This decision will encourage entrepreneurship and business, along with technological assistance to the emerging Small and Medium Enterprises, thus solving the problems of lack of infrastructure and financial assistance in many states.

5. $1 Billion Assistance for Make In India exports: U.S. Export-Import Bank will provide an assistance of $1 billion for Make in India campaign launched by PM Modi, which will help made in India products to be exported to US and increasing trade relations in this sector. Special focus would be provided in infrastructure development to ensure quality of the products according to global standards. This will help in increasing exports and hence reduce the deficits.

6. $2 Billion for Energy Investments In India: US Trade & Development Agency will pitch in with $2 billion investments in the renewable energy sector in India, which includes Solar Power and Wind Energy to help India solve its energy crisis, and to bring down costs related with power production using traditional means. US Government also assured India that they will help us to achieve the target of producing 100 GW via solar energy with an investment of $100 billion.

7.Visa Issues To Be Resolved: Obama promised Indian government that he will look into the visa issues, which had been causing much trouble to Indian businesses who wish to expand their base in USA. A comprehensive migrant reform draft would be soon created by US, especially targeting Indian techies and businesses establishments for making H1B visa regulations easier and trade-friendly.

8. Smart Cities: US Government has signed MoUs with Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan for developing smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam. It will provide funds and technical knowledge for feasibility studies, study tours and workshops to materialize the idea into reality.

9. World Economic Forum: India would be the cynosure of all eyes at the World Economic Forum at Davos, considering the recent Obama’s visit.

10. Problems faced by IT firms: US citizens are apprehensive when it comes to ‘outsourcing’ as they feel that Indians are stealing away their jobs. Thus a lot of problems are faced by IT firms that have set up their offices in US and this was brought to Obama’s attention.

- Arshiya Garg and Archit Pahwa