President Barack Obama on Saturday began his 3-day visit to India with a surprise announcement of business deals worth $10 billion in aviation, power and other sectors that will create 50,000 jobs in the US, but he made a strong pitch for New Delhi reducing trade barriers.
Seeking to double bilateral trade and create employment in the two nations, he asked why India could not be US' top trading partner from the 12th position now.
Making the trip against the backdrop of strong electoral reverses on top of slow economic recovery, evidenced by the high unemployment rate, Obama appeared to strongly bat for American access to Indian market, saying US companies wanted to invest more in India.
"Infrastructure, greater trade barriers and other issues still pose some serious challenges. Today, India is making major investments in its infrastructure and creating greater transparency to support growth and entrepreneurship.
"Going forward that commitment must be matched by a steady reduction in barriers to trade and foreign investments from agriculture to infrastructure, from retail to telecom, because in a global economy new growth and jobs flow to countries that lower barriers to trade and investment," Obama said in his address to the US India Business Council as he began his maiden visit to India.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Photographs: Reuters
Gas and steam turbine sale
The General Electric Company, headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, was selected to supply six advanced class 9FA gas turbines and three steam turbines for the 2,500-megawatt Samalkot power plant expansion to be constructed by Reliance Power Ltd., a division of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest conglomerates in India.
General Electric purchases equipment from 240 suppliers across the United States - an estimated 14 per cent of which are small- and medium-sized enterprises - for every 9FA gas-fired turbine, which are assembled in Greenville, South Carolina.
The combined equipment and maintenance contracts are valued at approximately $750 million, with an estimated $491 million in US export content, supporting an estimated 2,650 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Commercial aircraft sale
Boeing Company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and SpiceJet, a leading private airline in India, concluded a definitive agreement for the sale of 30 B737-800 commercial aircraft.
SpiceJet currently operates 22 Boeing aircraft and has several 737 deliveries remaining from previous agreements.
This new agreement will enable SpiceJet to offer more domestic routes and to begin offering international flights to neighboring countries.
This transaction is valued at approximately $2.7 billion, based on catalogue prices, with an estimated $2.4 billion in US export content, supporting an estimated 12,970 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Heavy transport aircraft
The Boeing Company and the Indian Air Force have reached preliminary agreement on the purchase of ten C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft, and are now in the process of finalising the details of the sale.
Once all have been delivered, the Indian Air Force will be the owner and operator of the largest fleet of C-17s outside of the United States.
Boeing, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is the aircraft's manufacturer.
Boeing reports that each C-17 supports 650 suppliers across 44 US states and that this order will support Boeing's C-17 production facility in Long Beach, California, for an entire year.
This transaction is valued at approximately $4.1 billion, all of which is US export content, supporting an estimated 22,160 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Engine sale for the Light Combat Aircraft
On October 1, the General Electric Company, headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, was declared the lowest bidder and selected to negotiate a contract to provide the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency with one hundred and seven F414 engines to be installed on the Tejas light combat aircraft.
Upon finalising the contract, General Electric's facility in Lynn, Massachusetts, and other sites across the United States will be positioned to export almost one billion dollars in high technology aerospace products.
This transaction is tentatively valued at approximately $822 million, all of which is U.S. export content, supporting an estimated 4,440 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Reliance Power and US Ex-Im Bank agreement
Reliance Power Ltd., the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and the Export - Import Bank of the United States announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
This MOU will indicate Ex-Im Bank's willingness to provide up to $5 billion in financial support to Reliance Power for the purchase of US goods and services to be used in the development of up to 8,000 megawatts of gas-fired electricity generating units and up to 900 megawatts of renewable (solar and wind) energy facilities.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Diesel locomotive manufacturing venture
The United States has worldwide leaders in diesel locomotive manufacturing, and the Indian Ministry of Railways announced the prequalification of the sole two bidders - GE Transportation (Erie, Pennsylvania) and Electro-Motive Diesel (LaGrange, Illinois) - for a venture to manufacture and supply of 1,000 diesel locomotives over 10 years.
The estimated US content of this contract is expected to exceed $1billion.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Motorcycle assembly plant
Harley-Davidson Motor Company, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, announced that preparations are underway to open a new plant in India for the assembly of Harley-Davidson motorcycles from U.S.-built "complete knock-down" kits.
This investment by the company entails job creation in both the United States and India, and it will allow the company to reduce the tariff burden on its motorcycles for sale in the Indian market, driving sales growth by making its motorcycles more accessible to Indian consumers.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Sale of US mining equipment and related support equipment
On October 21, the Export-Import Bank of the United States announced the approval of more than $900 million in export finance guarantees to Sasan Power Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Power Ltd., supporting the sale of US mining equipment and services from Bucyrus International of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and other US vendors, in association with the 3,960-megawatt coal-fired Sasan power plant in Madhya Pradesh, India.
This financial commitment supports $641 million in US export content, supporting an estimated 3,460 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Tunneling equipment for underground water channel
On July 22, Robbins Company, headquartered in Solon, Ohio, announced an agreement with UNITY-IVRCL, a large infrastructure engineering and construction conglomerate, to provide tunnel-boring machines, conveyer equipment, and associated technical services for the construction of tunnels to convey water for the city of Mumbai.
Separately, through a contract signed in 2008 with Jaiprakash Associates, a large infrastructure conglomerate, the Robbins Company is already supplying high technology tunnel-boring machines and technical assistance to bore some of the longest underground tunnels in the world underneath a protected tiger sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh, which will increase irrigation for the production of cotton and other agricultural products.
The Mumbai contract alone is valued at $10 million, with $7 million in US export content, supporting an estimated 35 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Maharashtra homeland security pilot projects
Palantir Technologies, a small Silicon Valley software development firm, announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Maharashtra State Police to conduct a pilot program, whereby Palantir's end-to-end analytical software platform will be used on a trial basis to identify and alert authorities to security threats in order to help keep the citizens of Mumbai and Maharashtra safe.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Medanta Duke Research Institute
Duke Medicine, located in Durham, North Carolina, one of the leading academic health systems in the United States, and Medanta Medicity, located in Gurgaon, Haryana, a hospital and medical research complex, are announcing a joint venture agreement to launch the MDRI, a proof-of-concept clinical research facility within Medanta's hospital.
Duke Medicine will provide scientific and operational leadership, while Medanta will contribute financial resources and clinical and operational services.
Duke Medicine also will be partnering with Jubilant Life Sciences, headquartered in Uttar Pradesh, to conduct research studies and co-develop promising discoveries, with significant funding and in-kind support provided by Jubilant.
Subsequent commercialization is expected to result in licensing revenue for Duke Medicine.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Photographs: Kind courtesy of: Startupgyan.com
Long-range antenna system for rural telecommunications
SPX Communication Technology, a division of SPX Corporation operating out of Raymond, Maine, is in the final phase of the pilot deployment of its long-range antenna system with two leading Indian mobile operators.
This innovative technology has been shown to offer a significantly greater coverage area.
Once implemented, it is expected to create significant economies of scale, thereby improving the economic viability of rural wireless networks and making wireless communications available for people who either could not afford service or who live in areas that lack coverage.
The value of the initial trial equipment is expected to generate approximately $1 million, with 100 per cent US export content, supporting an estimated 5 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Production equipment for the manufacture of pre-fabricated housing
Spancrete Machinery Corporation, a family-owned business in Waukesha, Wisconsin, announced the sale of six sets of its hollow core, precast production equipment, including installation, training, and after-sales support, to Hindustan Prefab Limited, a state-owned company within the Indian Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation.
The production equipment will be used to manufacture inexpensive, prefabricated housing on a mass scale in India.
Spancrete also is working with Somat Engineering, Inc., from Detroit, Michigan, and their affiliate, SP Infrastructure India Ltd, in New Delhi.
This transaction is valued at approximately $35 million, all of which is US export content.
Based on the company's estimates, the transaction will support 30 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Cell phone rollout for small Indian businesses
Intuit, a company headquartered in Mountain View, California, which serves millions of small businesses worldwide, will launch a new mobile and web-based marketing service in partnership with Nokia, called 'Intuit GoConnect'.
This innovative technology will help Indian micro and small businesses grow and thrive by bringing customer management tools to the entrepreneur, improving the way they communicate with their customers in an increasingly mobile world.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Photographs: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff
The Unique Identification Project
L-1 Identity Solutions, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and another US-headquartered company, lead two of the three vendor consortia, which have been prequalified by the Unique Identity Authority of India for the first phase of an effort to register Indian residents with a 12-digit unique number using biometric identifiers.
Unprecedented in scale, seeking to register 1.2 billion Indian residents, the Unique Identification program aims to enhance delivery of government services in India.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Sale of precision measurement instruments for fuel cell research
Advanced Materials Corporation (AMC), a small, six-person firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received an order to supply a specially-designed Pressure-Composition Isotherm Measurement Instrument to the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, India.
BHU will utilise AMC's instrument to test fuel cell applications, as part of an Indian central government research program.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Trace explosive detection equipment
Implant Sciences, a small company based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence in January to supply its Quantum Sniffer H-150, trace detection devices to be used by the Indian Army to detect the presence of explosive, bomb-making materials that could be used in a terrorist attack.
The company announced that the equipment will be ready for pre-dispatch inspection and delivery in November.
The transaction is valued at approximately $6 million, all of which is US export content, supporting an estimated 30 jobs.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
VIP helicopter sale
On August 25, Bell Helicopter, based in Hurst, Texas, signed a purchase agreement with Span Air, a private air charter company, for the sale of its first Bell Model 429 corporate VIP helicopter in India.
Span Air has a second order slated for delivery in mid-2011.
Bell Helicopter recently sold its 100th helicopter in India.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Sales of pre-owned refurbished healthcare equipment
Skelley Medical, a rural New Hampshire-based company, sells refurbished medical equipment to Indian hospitals in second and third tier cities through partnerships with various distributors in India.
Skelley announced plans to open an after-sales service facility in Mumbai as part of a new venture with Triage Systems, a Mumbai-based Indian medical equipment distributor.
This facility will service medical equipment purchased by their Indian hospital customers.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Monitoring equipment for greening buildings
Noveda Technologies, a small start-up company in Branchburg, New Jersey, is finalising a new venture with Chennai-based Wysine Technology to jointly develop and market a new solution for web-based, real-time energy monitoring for 'greening' buildings.
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US signs trade deals worth $10 bn with India
Dredges for Maharashtra Maritime Board
Ellicott Dredges, a small company based in Baltimore, Maryland, announced the sale of two cutter suction dredges to the Maharashtra Maritime Board, a Maharashtra government entity.
The equipment will be utilised to dredge a fisherman's port and various tributaries in the state of Maharashtra.
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