Ahead of PM's visit, US Senate Committee to hold hearing on India's economy

Washington: A key US Congressional committee has convened a hearing on economic conditions in India just ahead of the crucial meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama this week.

Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of Senate India Caucus and Chairman of Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance, will chair the hearing entitled "Assessing the Investment Climate and Improving Market Access in Financial Services in India," on Wednesday (in the wee hours of Thursday local Indian time).

The hearing will examine US-India economic relations, as they are likely to be at the forefront of Dr Singh's working visit to the White House on September 27.

The hearing was previously scheduled for September 11, but was postponed amidst the Syrian crisis.

The focus areas of the hearing would be regulatory and statutory barriers to foreign direct investment in the banking and insurance industry, prospects for liberalisation of market access for the financial services industry, and opportunities to increase bilateral investment between the US and India.

A panel of expert witnesses including Arvind Subramanian from the Peterson Institute for International Economics will describe the current investment climate at the regional and national level including major challenges to modernising the Indian economy.

Other panelists included Richard Rossow, Director for South Asia, McLarty Associates; and Reena Aggarwal, Robert E. McDonough Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Finance, Georgetown University.