India has assured corporate America that it has no plans to halt its nuclear energy projects in view of the recent damage to a nuclear power plan in Japan after it was hit by a tsunami.
"We are very clear it is an absolute must in the bouquet of energy resources which have to be accessed," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told a gathering of top US c corporate leaders and those from the US government at the annual summit of the US India Business Council (USIBC).
Sharma told the USIBC meeting that he was recently asked if nuclear energy in India would be effected in view of the recent incident in Japan, "My answer was no," Sharma said, adding that nuclear energy in India is going to expand.
"We are very clear that we not be left behind again in the field of technologies," Sharma said. "We want you to be with us in achieving what we have set out to achieve," he urged the corporate leaders of the United States.
"That would be a notable contribution
in the partnership between our two great countries," he said. Sharma told US businesses that India is committed in enhancing this partnership.
"Let us try and give more substance to this partnership and bring about changes which will be good for both our countries," he said.
A day earlier, Sharma addressed a gathering of policy makers, economists and scholars at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
He highlighted the increasing role of emerging economies in the perspective of the financial and economic crisis, which is causing a rebalancing of the global economy.
Sharma also stressed the necessity to build and strengthen bilateral business and institutional partnerships between the two countries.
He informed the audience about Indias plans to create National Manufacturing and Investment Zones, which would become hubs of innovation and manufacturing.
On June 21, Sharma held a CEO Industry Roundtable in New York where he interacted with select leaders of investment firms and big businesses with keen interest in commercial opportunities in India.