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Sanctions on the way out, says expert

After nine rounds of talks between India and the United States in the wake of the nuclear tests last year, there are chances that all sanctions will be lifted in the next six months, according to Raj Dheer, principal commercial officer and consul at the US Commercial Service.

Delivering a lecture at a seminar on the Indo-US investment trade-experiences and opportunities organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dheer said there is a tremendous scope for rapid growth in Indo-US bilateral trade these days.

The US has made a lot of progress after India opened its economy. India's export has gone up from US dollar 5.72 billion in 1995 to US dollar 8.22 billion in 1998. Import rose from US dollar 3.29 billion to US dollar 3.54 billion in the same period, Dheer said.

The US had mainly invested in five sectors -- fuel (power and refinery), food processing, telecommunication and electronics -- in the last few years. While Indian export in traditional items like textile, gems and jewellery also had seen considerable growth, Dheer said and added that according to latest figures available textiles and gems and jewellery were at the top in India's export to the US.

The US also was concentrating on other sectors like infrastructure -- ports, airport, highways, roads, power telecom, housing and water -- these days. Dheer gave the example of Maharashtra, where the US had already invested in some big projects like the Enron power project in Dabhol.

Referring to the US sanctions, Dheer said the sanctions had not really affected Indo-US trade and only a minor part of exports to the US is subject to partial sanctions. Though some major projects have been affected by the sanctions, there was no impact on day-to-day working, he said.

According to him, the new areas where the US had an opportunity to invest in India were the oil and gas industry, the food processing industry, infotech, health care, and fast growing sectors like capital goods and automobiles.

Dheer expressed concern about the slow growth of the Indian economy and various difficulties faced by American industries to politics, improper financial services and even pressure from the police. He said he hoped India would take a note of these constraints in the future.

He also said some budgetary proposals like hike in excise duties and 10 per cent surcharge on individual and corporates would have an adverse impact on the Indo-US trade.

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