National Executive Board Meeting 6th December 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

National Executive Board Meeting – 6th December 2017

The third meeting of AMCHAM’s National Executive Board was held on December 6th, 2017 in Mumbai. The new U.S. Ambassador to India, Mr. Kenneth I. Juster, addressed the board meeting as Honorary President of the chamber. Mr. Pratyush Kumar, Chairman, AMCHAM India, welcomed the Ambassador and discussed the U.S. – India strategic partnership. This was followed by an introduction of board members and brief comments by each of them, sharing their experience of doing business India. AMCHAM welcomed Mr. J. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, Environment, Science and Technology, U.S. Embassy to the board.

Mr. Mahesh Krishnamurti, Chairman – Western Region, AMCHAM India and Managing Director, RGP, made a presentation on the Western Region. Mr. Sanjay Koul, Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India, made a presentation on manufacturing in India and an overview of the manufacturing committee’s activities.

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Smart Cities and Infrastructure Summit 2017 4th December 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Smart Cities and Infrastructure Summit 2017 – 4th December 2017

AMCHAM’s Smart Cities and Infrastructure Summit 2017 brought together teams of government officials from Gujarat Transmission Company, Gujarat Electrical Grid Company, Energy Efficiency Services and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to meet with members to discuss needs for technology that the government has at various levels. The Summit took place in Gurgaon on 4th December 2017. AMCHAM member companies spoke about how they could fulfill the government’s vision on smart cities and also brought forth issues that companies face during the bidding process and implementation.

Companies such as HP Enterprise, Motorola Solutions, Cisco, 3M Corporation, Honeywell and SmartE explained about their cutting-edge technology that they have offered to the government at various levels of project implementation. In the inaugural session, Mr. Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC and Mr. Ashwini K. Channan, Director Government Relations, Honeywell International (India) made remarks.

The chief guest, Dr. Sameer Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, outlined his ministry’s mission on smart cities. He spoke at length about how cities had been planned in fits and starts owing to many waves of urbanization under many administrations. For instance, the British had introduced the Civil Lines, the Cantonment Lines and the regular bazaars. The Mughals and the Turks had introduced their own urbanization to Delhi. Dr. Sharma said that the current citizen-centric plan wished to start afresh and upgrade all 90 designated cities.

Ms. Aileen Crowe Nandi, Deputy Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy, expressed interest in connecting with urban mobility solution-based organizations such as DMRC in taking forward the U.S. Embassy’s mandate to support the Government of India’s smart cities mission. She spoke of future plans in the three states with whom the U.S. Embassy had been interacting so far, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. She said the United States was committed to the success of urbanization models currently being pushed in India.

Ms. Mehnaz Ansari, Representative, India, South and Southeast Asia, USTDA, spoke about the reverse trade missions that USTDA had conducted to bring government officials from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to learn more about the smart city initiatives made in the U.S. She thanked AMCHAM for engaging with the central and state governments and for taking forward the USTDA vision of participation in India’s smart cities mission.

Co-Chairman of the AMCHAM Infrastructure and Smart Cities Committee, Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, outlined the path that AMCHAM wished to follow in helping the government to fulfill the smart cities mission. He stressed on the need for including the development of roads, railway tracks, metros and airports so that smart cities do not end up creating bottle necks in either inter-city or intra-city movements. The other Co-Chairman, Mr. Samit Ray, stressed on the need to connect with the chief minister’s offices in states for greater interaction. He cited the quote “India under builds and China over builds” to explain the problems with Indian planning for smart cities.

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Aviation Committee Meeting 30th November 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Aviation Committee Meeting – 30th November 2017

AMCHAM’s Aviation Committee met on November 30th, 2017 at the UTC office, Gurgaon. The meeting commenced with a welcome address by Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM India, and opening remarks by Mr. Palash Roy Chowdhury, Chairman – Aviation Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director – India, Pratt & Whitney. The committee has formed four subgroups on 1) general aviation 2) innovation 3) skill development and 4) airport infrastructure and decided to focus on these four key areas in 2018. The other topics of discussion included the top priority states that could be engaged with, taking forward the committee’s agenda and the ‘WINGS INDIA 2018,’ the flagship event on civil aviation, which has been scheduled for March 2018.

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Reception for Ambassador Mark Green, Administrator, USAID 29th November 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Reception for Ambassador Mark Green, Administrator, USAID – 29th November 2017

Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM India, along with Mr. Vivek Vasishtha, Executive Director and Country Leader Government and Regulatory Affairs, IBM India and Mr. Anand Rishi, General Program Manager – Sirturo, Janssen Pharmaceutical of Johnson & Johnson, attended a reception for Ambassador Mark Green, Administrator, USAID, who was in India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The reception was held at the home of Mr. Mark White, Mission Director, USAID, on 29th November in New Delhi. Participants discussed ways to partner with USAID and learned about the development work happening in India.

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Interaction with Government of Tamil Nadu Officials 27th November 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Interaction with Government of Tamil Nadu Officials – 27th November 2017

On 27th November members of AMCHAM’s Manufacturing Committee and the Supply Chain and Logistics Committee met with Mr. Atulya Misra, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu along with Mr. M. S. Shanmugam IAS, Additional Secretary, Industries Department and Mr. K. Balasubramanian, Deputy Secretary, Industries Department. From AMCHAM the meeting was led by Mr. Sanjay Koul, Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India and Mr. Srinivasan Sarangapani, Chairman – Supply Chain and Logistics Committee, AMCHAM and Director Operations, Timken Engineering and Research India. Mr. Iqbal Sait, Chairman – Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAM and Head of EMEA Operations, Saggezza India, was also present.

Some of the challenges discussed included the revised process for disbursing the incentives (as per MOU) under the GST regime, the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act, compliance support, and infrastructure and operational challenges to manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. The government gave an overview of the online portal for the Business Facilitation Act and offered another meeting with more details. Mr. Misra requested AMCHAM companies to advocate for the portal and wanted to learn about some of the best practices of companies operating in Tamil Nadu. He emphasized that the aerospace park was ready for investment. Mr. Misra offered to create a desk at the Guidance Bureau, in consultation with the consulate and AMCHAM, that could meet monthly to discuss industry challenges.

Representatives from APCO Worldwide, BorgWarner Morse Systems India, BTI Consultants, Caterpillar India, Deloitte, Ford India, Honeywell, and Modine Thermal Systems attended the meeting.

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Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Joint Meeting 27th November 2017

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Joint Meeting – 27th November 2017

The second meeting of AMCHAM’s Manufacturing Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Sanjay Koul, Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India Limited was a joint meeting with the Supply Chain and Logistics Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Srinivasan Sarangapani, Director Operations, Timken Engineering and Research India, held on 27th November at the Madras Cricket Club in Chennai. Mr. Iqbal Sait, Chairman – Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAM, hosted the meeting.

The committees discussed plans for a joint event at the end of February that would feature senior government representatives and a couple panel discussions with possible topics such as DGFT or FCPA.

The committee meeting was followed by an interaction with Mr. Atulya Misra, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries Department so it was decided to take up the following points with the Government of Tamil Nadu: clarity on the revised process for disbursing the incentives (as per MOU) under the GST regime, Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act and single window clearance, Pollution Control Board support and infrastructure related challenges. The Manufacturing Committee also decided to set up monthly conference calls on the 4 subgroups – DGFT, public procurement policy, Pollution Control Board and BIS.

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.