The arrival of the largest business delegation from the US, consisting of 250 members, is just the beginning of a series of such visits from other countries. Large business delegations from Israel, Russia, Italy, Poland and Portugal will be in India between December and February.
The first of these will be from Israel,headed by Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman, which will be coming to India on December 6.
A 54-member business delegation from Russia will be in India on December 8. The delegation will be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister A D Zhukov.
"The deputy prime minister of Russia will be here to attend an inter-governmental joint committee meeting between India and Russia," Saroj K Poddar, president, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry,(Ficci) said.
Leading Russian companies including Sistema and Lukoil will be part of the delegation. Currently, there is very little foreign direct investment from Russia into India. However, Indian companies like Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's and Lupin have operations in Russia.
In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to visit India. Putin will be the Guest of Honour at the Republic Day celebrations.
Later, in February, a 200-member Russian delegation headed by Russian Trade Minister German Greff will be in India to explore investment opportunities between the two countries.
December will also see a 40-member business delegation from Poland visiting India. The delegation, expected on December 11 will be headed by PAIZ, the Poland Association of Investment Promotion Agencies.
Italy, which has been on the radar of India's trade promotion agenda of late, will be sending a trade delegation in mid-February. Around 300-400 companies will be part of the business delegation headed by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
An 80-member business delegation from Portugal headed by the country's president will be in India on January 12.
US delegation eyes tie-ups in India
The Confederation of Indian Industry on Monday organised an interactive meeting between the visiting US business delegation and the representatives of local industry for discussing the prospects of partnerships between India and the United States.
The visiting US team, representing a range of sectors including construction, IT, water treatment solutions, gas pipelines and wine, has expressed eagerness to partner with the local companies to expand their operations both in India and the US.
Speaking to the media, S Pradeep Reddy, CEO, Butters India Realty, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Florida-based Butters Construction & Development, said his company was currently planning to take up projects in Hyderabad with a minimum investment of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).
Local partners have come forward to bring in almost Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) investment, he said.