Modi meets heads of Qualcomm, Blackstone, Adobe, First Solar and General Atomics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met five major US multinationals, apprised them of the reforms made in India and invited them to invest while acquainting them with the economic opportunities available in India.

On the first day of his three-day visit to the US, Mr. Modi met the heads of these major companies one-on-one and discussed with all the reforms and investments made in India in their sector. The Prime Minister first had a meeting with the CEO of Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon, in which he discussed the opportunities for Qualcomm in the telecom and electronics sector in India. Mr. Modi also informed Mr. Emon about the recently launched Productivity Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) in the field of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing and discussed the development of semiconductor supply chain in the country. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, during this period discussions were also held on building innovation ecosystem at the local level in India. Mr. Amon expressed his willingness to participate in 5G as well as digital technologies in the country.

Two of the CEOs of the five big companies that the Prime Minister spoke to are Indian-origin. The total net worth of the five big companies with whom the Prime Minister held a meeting in the US is believed to be more than $555.41 billion (Rs 41.03 lakh crore). The largest company among them is Adobe, whose net worth is said to be $ 305.51 billion. Qualcomm has a net worth of $150.7 billion, Blackstone’s net worth is $85.03 billion. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narain is an Indian-origin business executive. He was born in Hyderabad, India. Shantanu did his engineering studies from Osmania University in Hyderabad. The second Indian-origin Vivek Lal took over as the CEO of General Atomics Global Corporation on 1 June 2020. He took charge of Boeing’s Defense and Space Operations. Lal also worked in Reliance Industries.

The Prime Minister also held discussions with Shantanu Narain, President and CEO, Adobe. In this meeting, Mr. Modi discussed with Mr. Narayan about Adobe’s partnership and investment with India. During this, both also discussed the Digital India program and the use of emerging technology in the fields of health, education and research and development were discussed.
With Mark Widmar, Chief Executive, First Solar, Mr. Modi discussed India’s renewable energy prospects, especially solar energy, and apprised them of the reform initiatives taken by the government in this area. During this, the Prime Minister discussed the possibilities of investment in this sector while discussing the efforts made by India for the use of solar energy by India, as well as the initiative of One World One Sun and One Grid.

Mr Modi’s meeting with Vivek Lal, Chief Executive Officer, General Atomics Global Corp., a defense and diversified technology company. Shri Modi described the meeting with Shri Lal as fruitful. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Modi apprised Mr. Lal of India’s liberal drone policy and also about the PLI in the manufacturing sector for this.
Shri Lal said that India is a suitable center for manufacturing of drones. He said that a dedicated drone hub can be created in India, which will help in building the entire ecosystem of drones. Shri Lal appreciated the reforms made by India in the field of space.

Thereafter, Mr. Modi also held a meeting with Stephen Svarzman, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of investment company Blackstone, and briefed him about the investment opportunities in various sectors in India. During this, the Blackstone Chairman briefed Mr. Modi about his company’s investments in India and future investments.

Shri Modi said that there is immense investment potential for Blackstone in India. Informing them about the reforms made in India, the Prime Minister also discussed about wealth monetization and bad banks.

The Blackstone President said that he is very optimistic about India’s capabilities as India is one of the fastest growing countries. They