Washington: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel and Road Transport and Shipping Minister T R Baalu on Wednesday invited American corporate leaders to consider the "fantastic investment" opportunities in India.
Patil and Baalu were participating in the US India Business Council's day-long seminar on India's Transportation Infrastructure: Challenge and Opportunity.
Saying that India's aviation and transportation needs are huge, they urged the American investors to take advantage of the ''tremendous incentives'' being offered for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Patel mentioned that for seven million passengers, there were only 200 commercial aircrafts in India, which he said was woefully inadequate to cater to the growing needs for air travel, both domestic as well as international.
To meet this demand, India will need at least six to seven thousand commercial aircrafts.
''Just think of the great potential for American aircraft manufacturers who would be able to market their products from commercial carriers to equipment to maintain airport security and a wide range of other needs,'' he said.
The Indian government is looking for foreign as well as private sector investment to meet the immediate need of upgrading and modernising the airports, he added.
Baalu outlined the various incentives besides the 100 per cent FDI in construction and maintenance of ports and harbours.
This also includes projects providing support services such as operation and maintenance of piers, loading and discharging of vehicles.
He said India has a road network of 3.3 million km, second only to the United States.
National highways constitute less than two per cent of the total road length but carry 40 per cent of the traffic on the roads.
Inviting American investors to back India?s infrastructure needs, Baalo said that the FDI will lead to economic and social development in India and at the same time boost American business.
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