The real story about the visit by the leader who until recently could not be named in official America is the turnaround in sentiment about India. But then whoever accused the Americans of missing a business opportunity? They can smell that the business of Narendra Modi is business and they are willing to give him the once over. If it means using all means necessary to get into one of the many business meetings on his schedule, so be it. Gentle reminder: they also use all means necessary to undercut India when they dont get designer policies stitched to their liking. And use the US government as their megaphone. But back to the excitement they currently feel. A well-informed psychologist of Indo-US relations called it a complete mood swing. Investment flows to India have improved which probably had a positive impact on US corporates depression index on India. The buzz is that some big-time US tycoons even tried to muscle their way into the private dinner Barack Obama is hosting for Modi on Septembe 29 but were politely told it was very exclusive and open only to a few cabinet members like commerce secretary Penny Pritzker and defence secretary Chuck Hagel. So the Washington-based business luminaries made a beeline for the semi-private meeting Modi will have with corporate heavyweights before he addresses a larger gathering at the US-India Business Council. The interest is high, the space limited or so the organisers claim. Companies have been told to send only one executive per corporation for Modis speech and none below a certain level. In fact, the visit is definitely weighted on the business side not the joint statement side, meaning the long, paragraph-by-paragraph recounting of the two sides agreed to.... x,y, z only to forget most of the recount on the trip home. But to be fair, old joint statements can be thrown in the face of opponents to great effect. Oh OK, back to business. Modi will likely spend most waking hours on the five-day visit whipping up enthusiasm among the sceptics to generate investments for India. He seems to have no inhibitions of Indian leaders of times before. Both current New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and former mayor Michael Bloomberg will call on him to share ideas about smart cities. A meeting with Modi has become a hot-ish ticket even for the jaded Wall Street types. Requests are in high volume but we know the Animal Farm rule. All CEOs are equal but some are more equal than others. Six biggies, including those of GE, Boeing, BlackRock, Merck and Citigroup, will have one- onone time with Indias CEO while a small (but equally exclusive) group of 17 others will have a round-table meeting. The whos who of the corporate world will be present - from Abbot to Cargill to Pepsico to the Carlyle Group. But it could be a tough give and take. BlackRock is the worlds largest asset manager and claims to have deep roots in every region of the world with 11,000 employees. Bhai, phir Bharat mein aur paise lagaeeye, na. But BlackRock funds have reduced their exposure to India and advised clients to wait for policy delivery by Modi. GE is old hand in India, marking its presence way back in 1902 but it also hasnt felt any growth pangs lately. It makes everything from jet engines to light bulbs and has 15,000 employees spread across India. But get this - GE makes the same revenue (about $2 billion) in Brazil with half the employees. Growth has been flat for three years, thanks to the policy paralysis in Delhi. India no longer feels like a special place.....
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:35:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015