India’s rapid transformation impresses USIBC President

Washington, Dec 22, India’s economic acceleration and digital transformation are reshaping the country at a pace that many outside observers may underestimate, Atul Keshap, President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), said after a recent visit.

Keshap said meetings with cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, experts and business leaders left him with “a clear sense of an India on the move.” He cited India’s 8.2 per cent growth rate and visible transformation across infrastructure.

“Everywhere we went in India, we saw amazing evidence of the transformation of India,” he told IANS.

He highlighted advances in highways, ports, airports and digital governance. “There’s a digital transformation happening in India that is so important,” he said, citing the government’s ability to track cargo shipments nationwide in real time.

Keshap said India’s digital identity infrastructure had enabled rapid delivery of public services, including during the pandemic.

“It got hundreds of millions of Indians through the pandemic by directly moving food, cooking gas, and other things into the accounts of people,” he said.

He also pointed to legislative reforms, including labour law changes and the passage of what he described as the Shanti Act to support a nuclear power renaissance.

“You got the feeling that India is at a gallop, that the government is not resting on its laurels,” he said.

Reflecting on India’s evolution, Keshap said perceptions had shifted dramatically since his childhood. “Nowadays, India is racing,” he said, adding that the transformation of daily life was “remarkable at this day and time.”

Describing present-day India, he said, “In one sense, the whole country is a construction site,” citing new ports, airports, metros, hospitals and roads. While acknowledging the disruption this causes, he said it reflected decades of catch-up and future-oriented planning.

He said officials at all levels of government emphasised ease and speed in doing business, as well as reforms to attract investment. “You can feel that the Indian system is accelerating,” he said.

Keshap said India recognised the need to address trade concerns raised by the United States while pursuing its ambition to become a developed country in the coming decades. “That dynamism is very intoxicating,” he said.

India is among the world’s fastest-growing major economies and is expected to continue climbing global economic rankings.

US companies have expanded operations in India across technology, manufacturing, energy and services, reflecting growing confidence in India’s long-term prospects.

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