US pitches for Indian FDI through SelectUSA

KOLKATA: A US trade agency is in the city for a roadshow to attract Indian investments.

The agency, ' SelectUSA's arrival followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent US trip.

"This is the first roadshow in India from SelectUSA," agency's executive director Vinai Thummalapally said here today.

SelectUSA is a US government programme to promote and facilitate business investment in the country.

Thummalapally said an investment of $20 billion had arrived into the US since two years when it started conducting roadshows in some 8-10 countries.

"This is a very exciting time for us to do business together. The US has been consistently recognised as one of the easiest places in the world to do business," he said.

The agency works as a single contact point for global investors, helps to connect at the local levels, navigates the regulatory system and find solutions to questions.

Thummalapally said India was the fourth fastest growing source of FDI into the US, with $11 billion investments (historically).

According to Thummalapally, the US is also ready to work with and assist Indian startups.

"We are as keen to work with startups as we are with big companies. But incentives are provided at a local or state-level rather than federal level," Thummalapally pointed out.