India-US partnership expanding across tech, defence and supply chains: Goyal

NEW DELHI: Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday positioned India as the US’s preferred economic partner, saying American companies have committed more than $60 billion in investments over the past six months as global businesses deepen their India bets amid rising demand for trusted supply chains and digital infrastructure.

Addressing the Annual Leadership Summit of the American Chamber of Commerce in India in New Delhi, Goyal said India and the US are emerging as “natural partners” backed by economic complementarity and resilient supply chains, while asserting that India would remain the world’s fastest-growing economy for at least the next 25 years.

Goyal cited the International Monetary Fund’s FY27 growth forecast upgrade for India to 6.5% from 6.4%, saying the economy remained resilient despite challenges arising from the Ukraine war and the West Asia conflict. The Reserve Bank of India in April projected India’s FY27 real GDP growth at 6.9%, while warning that escalating geopolitical conflict, global financial market volatility and weather-related disruptions could weigh on the domestic growth outlook.

He said the India-US partnership is widening beyond trade into sectors such as technology innovation, high-precision defence, digital data centres, quantum computing and medical devices. Goyal cited major data centre investments by Amazon and Google as part of the recent investment commitments.

“America is looking for a trusted partner and India has consistently demonstrated respect for intellectual property rights while delivering high-quality output on time,” Goyal said.

Goyal said the two economies compete minimally and instead complement each other, helping companies diversify supply chains amid global economic uncertainty. He said India is also moving beyond an earlier model of importing components and assembling products locally towards becoming a hub for design, innovation and intellectual property creation.

According to the minister, multinational companies are increasingly choosing India for global capability centres rather than relocating talent overseas, a trend that accelerated after the covid-19 pandemic highlighted the viability of remote working and offshoring.

He said India currently hosts 2,117 global capability centres employing around 2.35 million people directly and generating nearly $98 billion in revenue.

Highlighting the government’s industrial strategy, Goyal said the proposed Bhavya scheme envisages 100 industrial parks with integrated worker housing, recreation and social infrastructure through an area-based development approach.

On infrastructure, he described PM Gati Shakti as a transformative initiative integrating nearly 1,800 layers of geospatial and infrastructure data to improve planning across highways, railways, ports and logistics networks while lowering costs and delays.

The minister added that the proposed Export Promotion Mission would help MSMEs secure globally recognized certifications needed to integrate into international supply chains. Agencies including the Export Inspection Council, Bureau of Indian Standards and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India are working together to strengthen testing and quality infrastructure, he said.

Calling the India-US relationship a defining partnership of the 21st century, Goyal said India’s long-term economic transformation is being driven by infrastructure expansion, renewable energy growth, digital adoption and flagship initiatives such as Startup India, Make in India and Digital India.