India, US negotiating high-quality bilateral investment treaty

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SME Times News Bureau | 28 Apr, 2015
India and the US are negotiating a high-quality bilateral investment treaty to create an enabling business environment in India, the US ambassador in New Delhi said on Tuesday.

"We (with Indian officials) are working on a high standard bilateral investment treaty to make sure that any such treaty is very high quality," US ambassador Richard Verma said addressing the annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce.

"India signed such a high standard investment treaty with Japan in 2010, so we know that it is attainable," he added.

India has adopted a model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) framework to further ease the way for foreign companies doing business and remove impediments in their way.

Pointing to how India-US bilateral trade had quintupled in fifteen years to cross the $100 billion mark last year, Verma said the transformed relations are evident from the agreement that establishes a United States-India Infrastructure Collaboration Platform to facilitate American industry participation in Indian infrastructure and smart city projects.

"Our aim is to provide the smartest solutions for India," the ambassador said.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Amitabh Kant said American companies bring cutting edge technology and best practices and are highly sought after in terms of investment and partnership in India.

"The Indian government is determined that American companies should come in and help India in attaining high trajectory growth," Kant said.