NEW YORK: Aiming to tap into the $50 billion potential for investments from individual and small & medium entrepreneurs of Indian origin in the US, a delegation of Indians Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) conducted an investment meet at the Indian Consulate in New York on Sept 13.
Headed by Secretary to the MOIA and Chairman of the Overseas Indian Facilitation Center (OIFC), Dr. A. Didar Singh, the delegation met with the Indian American community at the meet organized in consonance with the Indian Consulate, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Asia Society to apprise them of investment possibilities in specific sectors of the Indian economy such as education/ knowledge, financial services and infrastructure.
The meet was targeted at the individual professionals and the small and medium entrepreneurs in the US and not at any big corporation, Singh said. “The big corporations will go to India anyway, and they engage at a different level; it is the professionals and small entrepreneurs that are of interest to us.”
Addressing the media prior to the seminar, Dr. Didar Singh told reporters that India today is the world’s highest recipient of Diaspora remittances. “NRI remittances have gone up from $32 billion in 2005 to over $54 billion in 2009, and nearly 30% of these remittances come from the US,” Singh said. “That shows that there is surplus available with our Diaspora. However, most of it is used for consumption expenditure and not for capital expenditure. The current investment levels from NRIs are far below what is available even though the factors for investments are at a peak in India now.” Considering the vastness of the remittances, Singh said the investments from NRIs were miniscule having risen from 0.04 percent in 2005 to 0.79 percent in 2009.
India, Singh pointed out, is the world’s second highest investment destination next only to China, having surpassed the United States.
The US Indian population will soon hit 3 million, so the potential for investments from this segment of the Diaspora was huge, Singh said.
Singh said the fact that a huge amount of the remittances from Indian Americans are tied up in NRE or FCNR deposits in Indian banks – which shows the immense trust the NRIs repose in the Indian banking system as well as the fact that Indian banks offer higher interests on savings – which can be channeled for much needed investments in India.
Singh said that although there are a number of overseas Indians who are investing in some sectors of the Indian economy, it is “ironic that they are putting their money into short term investments while non-Indian global investors were investing in India for the long term, for the next 10 to 20 years.”
He added that it was for that reason that he was here to invite Indian Americans to re-visit India and reap the benefits of longer term investment in that country.
Noting that a number of overseas Indians were also interested in making philanthropic investments in India, Singh said that the government of India has set up the India Development Fund which assures transparency.
Responding to this correspondent’s question on how the Indian government views the large number of Indian origin professionals from the US who are returning to India owing to lucrative opportunities there, Singh said, “positively.”
Elaborating on that, he said, “As a matter of principle, the government of India does not encourage either emigration or immigration. But as an Indian person you have a right to go to any part of the world and you have a right to come back to the country. It’s very clear, it’s not government policy to either send you out or bring you in; but we shall facilitate it and if it is economic engagement we encourage it.”
Earlier, giving an overview of the 6-year old MOIA, Singh said India was only the 11th country in the world to have a separate Diaspora ministry in its government, which shows the significance the Indian government attaches to its Diaspora as also the immense influence that the Indian Diaspora has on its home country.
This is was a great time to engage with India, Singh said, keeping in view the country’s steady 8% growth despite the economic downturn globally over the last two years.
The ministry’s focus, Singh said, was on economic migration from India and keeping the Diaspora engaged culturally, socially and politically. In that context he reminded that the Indian parliament has just passed the Voting Rights Bill which allows NRIs who hold Indian passports to vote in Indian elections.
Singh said that the OIFC has held similar investments meets in Dubai, Qatar, Malasia, London and Hague.
SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY
India Post News Service
