Selling equipment to India could create 7 lakh US jobs: CII

In a report that coincides with US president Barak Obama's India visit, the Confederation of Indian Industries on Sunday said sourcing of infrastructure equipment, nuclear hardware and military aircraft from the US by India could create over 700,000 jobs in America over the next 10 years.

The report, 'India - a growth partner in the US economy,' which the CII released after conducting a survey of member firms that have operations in the US, says Indian business is now engaged across a wide spectrum of sectors in the US, and not just in information technology and IT-enabled services.

On Saturday, president Obama had announced $10 billion worth of deals between Indian and US companies, including a $2 billion equipment order from Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm Reliance Power and the purchase of 30 Boeing 737 aircraft by low-cost carrier SpiceJet. These deals would create more than 50,000 jobs in the US.

The report also said that Indian firms operating in the US have been aggressively hiring US workers and a large majority of the workforce for their American operations were local citizens.

It further said that Indian firms having operations in the US are actively engaged as stakeholders in community development programmes for development of libraries, health research and imparting skills to college graduates.

"These examples of deep integration... show that Indian business is in the US for the long-term and see themselves as partners in the resurgence of the US economy," CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said.