'N-deal will open floodgates of opportunity for India'

The US-India Business Council has expressed confidence that the Indo-US nuclear deal will be successfully concluded despite the current uncertainty over it and will open up investment opportunities to the tune of $500 billion over the next decade.

'The nuclear accord will open floodgates of opportunity that will propel India's growth far into the 21st century. USIBC looks forward to working closely with Indian industry to mobilise the massive investment required to achieve India's infrastructure build-out, estimated to cost $500 billion over the next decade,' said a statement issued by the USIBC on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Coalition for Partnership with India -- an umbrella coalition of business leaders, Indian Americans and Security Experts supporting the deal, USIBC President Ron Somers said: 'I take encouragement from the recent statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the deal will happen eventually, and from comments from prominent members of the US Congress, who have affirmed that the deal is too important to let fail.'

'This indicates that while more time may be necessary for consensus to be achieved supporting the merits of the deal, the technology denial regime imposed on India for decades will finally come to an end. This is good for India, good for the US, and good for the entire world,' he said.

Already India is a global leader in high technology. The nuclear deal will end India's nuclear isolation and enable India to become a global champion of the nuclear renaissance, combating global climate change, he added.

USIBC is the premier advocacy organisation representing 250 of the largest US companies investing in India.