Why PM Modi's visit to US will bring the biggest push for Make In India

PM Modi early on Thursday morning landed in Washington to take part in various engagements including the first in-person Quad leaders' summit on September 24. PM Modi is kickstarting his US visit with one-on-one meetings with five top American CEOs. Two of them are Indian-Americans - Shantanu Narayen from Adobe and Vivek Lall from General Atomics. The three others being Cristiano E Amon from Qualcomm, Mark Widmar from First Solar, and Stephen A Schwarzman from Blackstone.

PM Modi's meetings with the CEOs holds significance especially for the 'Make In India' initiative. The meeting with the CEOs comes a month after PM Modi addressed the Indian Missions abroad and stakeholders of the trade and commerce sector and gave a clarion call for ‘Local Goes Global - Make in India for the World’. Even on Independence Day, PM Modi had stressed that the whole world has been noticing the reforms being pursued in India. This comes at a time that FDI inflows into India remain strong. India witnessed an 18% jump in FDI even during the COVID pandemic. 

PM Modi's drones technology push

The Prime Minister's meeting with American CEOs from five different key areas is reflective of the priorities of his government.

PM Modi’s meeting with Lall (General Atomics) is significant as General Atomics is not only the pioneer in military drone technologies but also the world’s top manufacturer of state-of-the-art military drones, which the US shares only with its key allies and partners. India is in the process of procuring a significant number of drones for the three branches of its armed forces. It has also leased a few drones from General Atomics.

Jakarta-born Vivek Lall, now based out of California for over a decade, has been instrumental in major bilateral defence deals worth around $18 billion, as India and the US take steps to forge a new relationship in which defence trade is a key pillar.

In August, the Modi government announced new liberalised Drone rules that put India in the league of the United States and China in terms of harnessing the new technology's potential in aid of the Nation's development. 

New Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), also known as drones, offer a wide variety of benefits to all the sectors including agricultural, mining, infrastructure surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, defence, law enforcement, and many more. Furthermore, it will be a significant contributor to employment and economic growth, especially in remote and inaccessible areas of the country. The Modi government is looking at growing the drone industry $10 billion and providing 5,00,000 jobs for the youth of the country over the next five years. 

PM Modi's 5G technology push

PM Modi's meeting with Shantanu Narayen reflects the IT and digital priority that the Indian government is pushing for. Apart from this, the meeting with chip giant Qualcomm assumes significance, given India’s push for the 5G technology to be safe and secure. The San Diego-based company creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. A world leader in 3G, 4G, and next-generation wireless technology innovations for more than 30 years, Qualcomm is now pioneering its way to 5G with a new era of intelligent products that are revolutionising industries, including automotive, computing, and IoT (Internet of Things).

In February 2021, the Modi government approved a 12,195-crore PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme for telecom gear manufacturing, a move, the government stated will position the nation as a global powerhouse for production of such equipment ahead of 5G roll-outs.

In 2020 at the Indian Mobile Congress,  PM Modi had stressed the need to ensure the timely roll-out of 5G technology to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of people in the country. Currently, Indian telecom companies are running their trials on 5G.

Meeting with First Solar to bolster India's renewables push

As India is taking gigantic steps in the use of solar power to meet its energy needs, the meeting with Mark Widmar is important as First Solar is a leading global provider of comprehensive photovoltaic (“PV”) solar solutions, which use its advanced module and system technology. Early this summer, the Arizona-based company announced to add 3.3 GW of capacity in a new facility in India at an estimated cost of USD684 million. 

PM Modi in December 2020 laid the foundations of a renewable energy park in western Gujarat's Kutch and termed it to be the world's largest renewable energy park, set to produce a massive 30 gigawatts of electricity. The vast project of western Gujarat's Kutch region is spread over 1,80,000 acres -- the size of Singapore -- and will contain solar panels, solar energy storage units and windmills.

PM Modi's meeting with Blackstone CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman

Stephen A. Schwarzman is Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms investing capital on behalf of pension funds, large institutions, and individuals. In March this year, Blackstone announced that funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate have acquired Embassy Industrial Parks from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group, in one of India’s largest logistics transactions. 

(Image: @PMOIndia/Twitter/PTI/Representative Image)

(Inputs: PTI)