Energy Committee Meeting

The AMCHAM Energy Committee met on November 20th to welcome Ms. Aileen Nandi, Honorary USG Chair – Energy Committee, AMCHAM and Minister Counselor, Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy, Mr. Chirag Baijal, Co-Chairman – Energy Committee, AMCHAM and Chairman & MD, Commercial HVAC, Carrier India and Mr. John Speaks, Acting Minister Counselor for Energy, Environment, Science & Technology, U.S. Embassy. Ms. Preetha Nair, Chairperson – Energy Committee, AMCHAM and Head, True North Venture Partners, welcomed the new leadership team on behalf of the committee. This was followed by an interaction with members on the proposed U.S.-India webinar series with the Centre for High Technology (CHT) on refining and petrochemicals in early 2021, topics for AMCHAMs 29th AGM in April 2021 and views of members on business issues, particularly about the absorption of disruptive technologies.

Members felt that initiatives like a single-window for energy, appointment of a nodal agency (such as CHT with Scientific Advisory Council(SAC) under MoPNG) and a policy framework for innovative technologies with a progressive procurement policy would accelerate the absorption of disruptive/innovative technologies. A working group post the webinar would help to address challenges faced in promoting disruptive technologies and to facilitate collaboration between U.S. and Indian companies.

While the objective of the webinar series was ‘disruptive technologies and their adoption at an accelerated pace in the oil and gas sector’ it was felt that the 29thAGM could take up ‘energy efficiency and sustainable growth’ together participation in sustainable growth as part of the state-level focus at AGM. Ms. Nair informed members that inputs/suggestions were sought from CHT on the program format and the agenda for the webinar and that an energy door knock was being considered later in 2021, COVID-19 permitting. The meeting ended with a special thanks to Mr. Nathan Halat, U.S. Embassy, Mr. Mahmoud Jardaneh, Department of Energy, U.S. Embassy, Ms. Renie Subin, U.S. Embassy and Ms .Mehnaz Ansari, USTDA, for their support to the committee.

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.

USG Bimonthly Briefing

On November 18th, AMCHAM’s members convened virtually for the exclusive bimonthly briefing by Honorary National Executive Board Members from the U.S. Embassy, Ms. Aileen Nandi, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and Mr. Thomas Carnegie, Minister Counselor for Economics, Trade, and Information Technology, Acting. Both of them updated members on the current U.S.-India trade and economic relations. Ms. Nandi briefly discussed the recently concluded 2+2 ministerial meeting and how the two sides are actively engaged in taking forward what all has been discussed and agreed upon. They confirmed the joint collaborations on the health front and also touched base on concerns related to the recent procurement orders. The Presidential election was also discussed.

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.

Interaction with Ms. Kathryn Flachsbart, Consular Chief, U.S. Consulate General Chennai

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter hosted a virtual interaction with the incoming Chief of the Consular Section at the U.S. Consulate Chennai, Ms. Kathryn Flachsbart and Foreign Services Officer Mr. Leif Waller on November 17th. Mr. Sanjay Koul, Vice Chair, AMCHAM, Chairman – Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Timken India gave opening remarks for the session followed by addresses by Ms. Kathryn Flachsbart and Mr. Leif Waller about the services of the Consular section during special circumstances pertaining to the pandemic and limited visa operations. This was followed by a Q&A session. The attendees of the interaction were from member companies including Swagelok, Fragomen, Intuit and others.

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.

Tax, Tariff & Regulatory Affairs Committee – Tax Working Group Meeting

The newly constituted Tax Working Group under the Tax, Tariff & Regulatory Affairs Committee had its first meeting on November 9th. Currently, the group has a cross-sectoral representation from 12 companies with the objective of identifying and prioritizing themes for stakeholder engagement. The working group and the committee is chaired by Mr. Naveen Aggarwal, Partner – International Tax and Partner in Charge U.S. Corridor, KPMG in India and Co-Chaired by Ms. Neeru Ahuja, Partner – Global Business Tax, Deloitte in India. The discussion of the working group prioritized topics from amongst the nine identified themes in the agenda. OECD Pillar One & Pillar Two Blueprints, COVID related tax relief, cross border mobility, GST with its operational issues and the pre-budget memo were high for advocacy, representation and knowledge dissemination amongst members. The group agreed to meet every one or two months.

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.

Briefing on the Future of the Bilateral Relationship with Deputy Chief of Mission Edgard Kagan, U.S. Embassy

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

Briefing on the Future of the Bilateral Relationship with Deputy Chief of Mission Edgard Kagan, U.S. Embassy – 04 November 2020

The U.S. – India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership has been an ongoing platform with continued discussions on strategic and trade issues. The joint statement for the recently concluded third U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue can be viewed HERE. With this backdrop, AMCHAM organized a briefing on November 4th with Deputy Chief of Mission Edgard Kagan, U.S. Embassy, for an update on the future of the bilateral relationship. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM welcomed participants and Mr. Salil Gupte, Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India, highlighted that the U.S.- India relationship would continue to strengthen. He mentioned some of the defense and security cooperation and the people to people connections that bolster ties between both countries.

Deputy Chief of Mission Kagan gave an overview of the outcomes of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue emphasizing the progress in the relationship over the last 5 years. He talked about security being the overarching driver of the dialogue, agreements that have been signed, trade and economic challenges due to the pandemic. DCM Kagan shared about the importance and commitment of both countries to a free and open Indo-Pacific as well as the strides in defense cooperation.

The Q&A portion of the session included discussion on a gamut of topics including agriculture, cyber security, data challenges, the Indo-Pacific Business Summit, free trade agreement status, COVID cooperation, pharma, medical devices and space collaboration. Ms. Kaku Nakhate, Vice Chairperson, AMCHAM and President & Country Head (India), Bank of America N.A. helped to moderate the discussion and thanked DCM Kagan for the candid insights. AMCHAM’s National Executive Board Members, Mr. William L. Blair, Vice President and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India, Mr. Gulshan Kumar Sachdev, Managing Director, Quaker Chemical India Limited and Ms. Aileen Nandi, Minister for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy, attended the session.

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.

Karnataka Chapter Interaction with UPS Senior Leadership – Reimagining and Advancing People Development and Talent Transformation

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

Karnataka Chapter Interaction with UPS Senior Leadership – Reimagining and Advancing People Development and Talent Transformation – 03 November 2020

UPS, a U.S. headquartered Fortune 500 company is on a transformational journey. As part of this journey, the global leadership team is on an ‘Action Learning Expedition’ globally where different teams interact through virtual discussions with carefully selected organizational leaders worldwide in USA, Europe and Asia. AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter partnered with UPS’s India interaction on November 3rd and invited leaders from three member companies: Mr. Ravi Krishnan, Vice Chairman – Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAM and Chief Administration Officer at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Amit Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, IBM and Mr. Sanjay Vyas, Managing Director, Parexel, representing insights from financial services, technology and healthcare respectively.

The theme for the discussion with the global leaders of UPS was centered on lessons learnt as a leader having multiple transformations, how member companies see possibilities for India post COVID and in terms of people and culture — how to attract talented people, retain them and develop the management team. The session from UPS was led by Mr. Chris Byrne, VP Global Marketing and attended by Mr. Bill Moore, VP, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering, Ms. Brooke Carter, President Sales – High Tech and Manufacturing, Mr. Matt Parkey, VP Transformation Office, Mr. Paul Mathews, UPS Corporate Industrial Engineering Strategy & Planning Coordinator, Ms. Shireen Allaudin, East Region Vice President, Building and Systems Engineering and other UPS leaders.

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.