AMCHAM’s Manufacturing Committee met with Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, GOI, on 16th March in New Delhi. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM, welcomed members. The Secretary acceded to AMCHAM’s request to make ongoing interactions on a quarterly basis. Secretary Abhishek was accompanied by Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DIPP and Invest India.

Mr. Rampraveen Swaminathan, Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, International Paper India, made opening remarks on the overall challenges to the manufacturing industry in India, such as, the need to have a modernized integrated port system, lack of GST clarity, consistent government polices without retrospective changes, delays caused by multiplicity of government agencies, labor laws, and the manufacturing skills gap, among others.

Mr. Rampraveen Swaminathan also moderated a sector-wise dialogue that covered manufacturing challenges in agriculture and food processing, automotive, defense, electronics and ICT and forest-based industries. Some of the companies represented at the meeting included BAE Sytems, Boeing, Carrier Midea, Corning Technologies, Deloitte, Dow Chemical, Edgewood Networks, Emerson Electric, Ford, HP, IBM, International Paper, IPM India Wholesale Trading, John Deere, KPMG, Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo and UTC. AMCHAM submitted a detailed document with company specific challenges and proposed solutions. To ensure future appropriate deliverables, all members are requested to send inputs on their issues to valerie@amchamindia.com.