'India needs $500 nn investment to sustain growth'

TIRUCHIRAPALLI: India would have to invest about $500 billion in five years to sustain the current growth rate of around nine per cent and US firms would not miss an opportunity to have a stake in the investments, an official of the US consulate in Chennai said.

The USA would look for opportunities to invest in infrastructure in India, as the nation had been posting a nine per cent growth rate over the last three years, Frederick J Kaplan, consul for public affairs,US consulate general said.

Delivering a special lecture on 'Indo-US' relations at the Bharathidasan University here yesterday, he said the relations between the two countries had gained momentum in the recent past, more specifically when India opted for economic reforms 'under the guidance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,' he said.

With the advent of economic reforms in the 1990s,India had envisaged strategic partnership with yet another democracy in varied fields like technology, health, agriculture, defence.

He said there were more than 250 Indian scientists working in the USA on the health front to combat diseases like leprosy, polio, tuberculosis, HIV, cancer and diabetes. Not to exaggerate, American Industry would come to a standstill without the crucial participation of Indian skills and their dedicated service attitude, he said.

Kaplan said American citizens are attracted towards the spiritual and cultural richness of India and expressed the hope that institutions like Bharathidasan University would extend a helping hand towards fostering the centuries old relationship between the two countries.