Indian minister says he wants to see 'bigger presence of Boeing' in the country

India's commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, expressed his desire for US-based Boeing to increase their presence in India, following a recent large order of planes from Tata Group-owned Air India.

In February, Air India placed one of the largest aircraft orders by an airline, purchasing 470 narrow-body and wide-body planes from Airbus and Boeing.

Goyal also stated that India and the US are experiencing healthy growth in their bilateral trade and aim to expand it four-fold to achieve a $500 billion target by 2030.

"Boeing has received a very large order from the Tata's and I am given to understand that similar sized orders are in the pipeline... I want to see greater presence of Boeing in India, we would love to see you expand your local supply chains...and have more MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) activity here, which will serve the entire region," Goyal said here while addressing a function on India-US partnership.

He expressed confidence that many more such large corporations from the US would work closely with Indian firms.

Further, the minister said that as Ajay Banga was appointed as the next president of the World Bank, "I am sure he will be able to bring the developing world perspective and a much more sensitive approach to the way World Bank operates and works".

He added that huge opportunities are there to enhance cooperation in sectors such as defence, pharma, textiles, engineering, auto components, agri products, electricals.

"Alphonso mangoes are also going in the US in a big way," Goyal said.

Speaking at the function, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy, Patricia Lacina expressed hope that the US companies will partner more with Indian firms on innovative and emerging technologies.

"This year, Indian tourists in the US are expected to exceed the pre-Covid levels and with Air India making its single largest order of planes from Boeing in February and launch of new airlines and airports in India, I think we can expect many more Americans to be visiting India in the years to come," she said.

The minister also released a report of AMCHEM India-KPMG titled -- The India edge - US industries catalysing the growth trajectory.

The report stated that it is the right time to invest in India as the country is receiving healthy foreign direct investments, witnessing high growth in exports and becoming a global R&D hub with the government's focus on manufacturing.

"India has been on the path of continuous reforms with the objective of bringing consistency and stability. There have been significant strides in ease of doing business, lower tax rates, easing of compliances, simplification of processes, and fiscal/non-fiscal incentives, which have put India at a vantage point," it said.

It added that India, due to its government support, favourable demographics and development of a robust infrastructure, is well placed to capitalise on the changing market dynamics and emerge as a global manufacturing hub.