US Commerce Secy announces nuclear trade mission to India

Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) Praising efforts of the United
States-India Business Council (U.S.I.B.C.) for civilian
nuclear accord -- that has been signed into law -- between
India and the U.S., the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos
Gutierrez announced the largest ever civil nuclear trade
mission to India, to be led by U.S.I.B.C., in December.

"US-India bilateral trade in 2007 was nearly USD 42
billion, up 55 percent from 2005. Sales of nuclear, and other
clean energy technologies presents an opportunity to do more
business together," the top Bush administration official
remarked at the "Green India Summit" here Wednesday.

The one-day summit was organised by the U.S.I.B.C. and
the Confederation of Indian Industry (C.I.I.) and was attended
by top executives and C.E.O.s of Business houses.

The summit also saw addresses by the Union Power Minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Indian Ambassador to U.S. Ronen Sen
and the former Defence Secretary William Cohen, now the
Chairman and C.E.O. of the Cohen Group.

Gutierrez used the occasion to remind New Delhi to get
moving on the nuclear liability protection legislation if
American business houses are to participate.

"U.S. companies are eager to contribute to India's
developing nuclear power sector. However, private sector
firms, both Indian and U.S., require nuclear liability
protection in order to do business. India must draft and
ratify a domestic law consistent with the Convention of
Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage," he said.

"India has the potential to be one of the world’s largest
clean energy markets. It has a population of more than one
billion people and over the next 20 years, it's projected to
overtake China. In this context, India will need to expand its
primary energy supply by at least three times and its
electricity supply by five times its current consumption to
sustain economic growth."

Pointing out to the fact that U.S. is currently India's
principal source of imported water treatment equipment, the
Commerce Secretary encouraged India to continue working
cooperatively to target environmental goods for trade
liberalisation.

"We're working together with India through the
Asia-Pacific Partnership (A.P.P.) on Clean Development and
Climate. Since March 2007, the Commerce Department has led a
total of 40 U.S. companies on three A.P.P. Clean Energy and
Environment Trade Missions. The result has been new commercial
partnerships and millions of dollars in exports," he said.

"During the third trade mission last month, one U.S.
company (Synergics) signed a deal to provide hydroelectric
power to approximately one million homes in India. To
highlight the potential of the clean energy market in India,
the International Trade Administration recently released an
export guide," Gutierrez said.

"I’ll close with this. Trade is critical and in fact it
continues to be the bright spot of the U.S. economy. These are
challenging economic times. And like other countries in the
world, India and the next U.S. Administration will have to set
policy for the future" the senior official said.

Gutierrez closed his address reminding the audience that
neither "protectionism" nor "economic isolation" are the
answers to the challenges that are currently facing nations.

"I don’t believe retreating into economic isolationism is
the solution. I hope the choice for all will be openness and
global engagement that generates growth, competitiveness, and
opportunities," he said.

"This 'Green India' Summit is another opportunity to
explore and develop ways to grow our economies," the Commerce
Secretary said.