India-Argentina Bilateral Relations - LB Associates

special reportBusiness Opportunities in IndiaIndia’s unique and vast geography,endowed with diverse topography,has made it one of the most attractiveinvestment destinations in the world. It isthe world’s largest democracy with stablepolicy environment, law and order as wellas responsive administrative set-up. Ithas become a global resource for variousmanufacturing and services industry. It isa land of abundant natural resources likecoal, iron ore, manganese ore, mica, bauxite,petroleum, titanium ore, chromite, naturalgas, limestone, dolomite, kaolin, gypsum,apatite, phosphorite, steatite, fluorite, etc. Itslarge area is covered by lush green forestsproducing wide variety of products of highquality like timber. It is a home to rich andvaried vegetations endowed with differentclimatic conditions. It is rich in flora andfauna.The diverse economy of Indiaencompasses traditional village farming,modern agriculture, handicrafts, a widerange of modern industries and a multitudeof services. With the largest area of arableland, India is one of the world’s biggestfood producers. It is the largest producer ofmilk, sugarcane and tea as well as the secondlargest producer of rice, fruit and vegetables.India’s pool of technical manpower basewith an increasing disposable income andits burgeoning market have all combined toenable India emerge as a viable partner toglobal industry. It is the preferred hotspotfor organisations keen to outsource theirR&D activities, software developmentwork, customer contact centres or IT enabledbusiness processes. The top sectors attractinghighest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)inflows into the country are: electricalequipments, services sector (financial and nonfinancial), telecommunications, transportationindustry, fuels, chemicals, constructionactivities, drugs and pharmaceuticals, foodprocessing, cement and gypsum products.Huge investment potential exists in theupcoming Knowledge Process Outsourcing(KPO) sector and the real estate industry.The Government of India is making allefforts to supplement all such advantagesof the country. It has made infrastructuredevelopment as one of the key area offocus. Sound and effective connectivity viarail, road, ports and air, between the IndianStates and with the rest of the world, is anecessity. Along with this, efficient powersupply and excellent telecommunicationnetwork plays a very important role in thecountry’s development. Accordingly, thegovernment has undertaken several policymeasures and incentives to attract investorsinto the country and provide a good qualityof life to the people.Thus, India is one of the few markets inthe world which offers high prospects forgrowth and earning potential in practicallyall areas of business, particularly in tourism,information technology (IT) and agriculturalsector. There exists immense investmentopportunities both at the national level andthe State level.Opportunities for ArgentineInvestors in IndiaAutomotive Sector• The country offers several advantages tointernational manufacturers who wish tomake the country their production hub. Itoffers expertise, low production costs andmillions of potential customers• The scale, quality and diversity of growingtalent pool in India offers significantopportunities to a global enterprise whichknows how to leverage this talent to globaladvantage• Government initiatives in the form oftax reductions on the development andproduction of hybrid vehicles are likely toprovide more opportunities to the globalplayers to foray the Indian automotivemarket• Steady growth is expected in the ruralmarket, which provides an opportunityfor players to increase their penetrationlevelsBiotechnology• Biosimilars: The use of biologics in varioustherapeutic areas such as cancer andauto-immune diseases is increasing andtheir genericisation is expected to bring anumber of opportunities for Indian playersin this space• Stem cell therapy: Stem cell therapy holdspotential for the treatment of diseasessuch as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’sdisease, etc. The government and a numberTHE EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY DIPLOMATIST • March 2013 77