Is It The Beginning of a Success Streak Called “Make in India” for Modi?
It is not Barack Obama or Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping or Shinzo Abe or Angela Merkel - leaders of the five most powerful countries of the world - who are most sought after at the East Asia and G-20Summits. Instead it is Narendra Modi, elected to the high office only six months back, who has received maximum requests for bilateral meetings from his counterparts and heads of state on the sidelines of East Asia, ASEAN and G-20 Summits in Myanmar and Australia later this week. South Block officials told ET that several slots have been reserved for Modi's bilateral interactions on the sidelines of the Summits in both Nay Pyi Taw and Brisbane following requests from several leaders who have expressed interest to meet the Indian PM. "As some of the leaders are common in East Asia Summit and G20, the schedule for Modi's meetings are being worked out depending on the itinerary of his counterparts," an official informed. This is Modi's first outing in both East Asia and G20 Summit and understandably there's interest among other leaders to interact with him, sources claimed. "The interest is also due to the fact that these countries want to step up economic engagement with India and they sense an opportunity under the Modi government to increase trade and investments," an official indicated.
While Modi is expected to meet some leaders like Obama, Abe, Dilma Rouseff whom he had already met and Putin who is travelling to Delhi in December, the emphasis is on meeting leaders such as German Chancellor Merkel and former British PM Gordon Brown (in Brisbane) whom the PM has not met yet, sources indicated. Besides, Modi could meet leaders of France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina and Nigeria in Brisbane on the sidelines of the G20 meet. Meeting with the Canadian PM, South Korean President and European Union leaders are also on the cards. The bilateral meet with host Myanmarese President Thein Sein is expected on Tuesday after Modi's arrival in Nay Pyi Taw. This will be the second visit by an Indian PM to Myanmar in one calendar year after Manmohan Singh was there last March for the BIMSTEC Summit. India has undertaken a slew of connectivity, capacity building and development projects in Myanmar.
Responding to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's call to global manufacturers, Chinese company Trina Solar is planning to set up a facility over the next few years to "make in India, supply in India and even export from India". Officials of the company, the world's fourth largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, participated in the World Economic Forum held in Delhi last week to actively look for a joint venture partner and assess the Indian market. "As far as 'make in India' is concerned, maybe we can make in India, supply in India and even export from India. We want globalized manufacturing, not only 'make in China'," Zhiguo Zhu, senior vice president of Trina Solar and the president of its module business unit told ET. Zhu added that from next year the
company would start expanding outside China. "We want 20-30% of our production to take place outside of China. India is one of the places we are exploring to do this," he said adding that the company expected to double its revenue share from India to 10%. In India, where it has been operating for three years, Trina Solar has a market share of over 10%. Of the total 2,700 Mw solar power capacity in the country, it has supplied solar power to projects with 280 Mw capacity. Zhu exhorted the government to sort out a few issues that he said would make India more conducive for business and attractive to foreign investors, even as he expressed confidence in the India growth story. "We don't see India as one country because there are too many provinces and that makes doing business very complicated. We have to spend a lot of time to understand this. We want the government to make the process simple. Then more people will come here for investment," he said. Zhu also spoke of the need for special incentives such as land and infrastructure to foreign companies to facilitate investments. India also needs a simplified taxation structure to create a better business environment, he added. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE)-listed Trina Solar announced net revenues of $519.4 million for the second quarter of 2014. Its total shipments during this period stood at 943.3 Mw. In the third quarter, the company plans to report shipments of 1,060-1,120 Mw of PV modules.