Over 15 firms carry on India-specific lobbying: Congressional report

While lobbying by global retail giant Walmart with US lawmakers to gain access to the Indian market has raised a political storm, it has emerged that at least 15 other large American companies and entities have spent millions of dollars in 2012 alone to lobby for their Indian business interests, along with other issues.

These include pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, computer makers Dell and HP, telecom companies like Qualcomm and Alcatel-Lucent, financial services majors like Morgan Stanley and Prudential Financial, the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures, and the Aerospace Industries Association of America, according to the quarterly lobbying disclosure reports filed with the US Senate and the House of Representatives.

Qualcomm has lobbied on issues related to spectrum licenses, Alcatel-Lucent on preferential market access regulations and Pfizer on ''issues related to a Supreme Court decision on generic medicine pricing'' and certain patent cancellation matter in India.

At least three lobbying firms - Financial Services Forum, Business Roundtable and Financial Executives International - have lobbied on issues related to taxation and other proposals of the finance bill presented in Parliament in the Budget session in March this year.

Big businesses like Boeing, AT&T, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly and GE have also lobbied earlier with US lawmakers on "specific lobbying issues" related to India, which include discussions on market opening initiatives and support for their sales and business opportunities in the country.

Insurance major Prudential Financial has been lobbying for ''Indian financial market access and equity ownership issues'' like the proposal to raise the foreign direct investment cap in the insurance sector.