By Edward Luce in Mumbai

With its brown and grey stone masonry and sharp Gothic spires, St Xavier’s School in Mumbai felt more like a stage set from a Harry Potter movie than a venue for Barack Obama’s “townhall” session with Indian students. That the colonial-era school endlessly replayed a music tape of Phantom of the Opera – and other Andrew Lloyd-Webber tunes – to the waiting audience only enhanced the impression. As did the creaky wooden lecterns made available to the White House press corps. But the townhall was an unqualified success. Continue reading »

Barack Obama’s visit to India might have lacked a little in emotion and showmanship, but in business companies from the world’s two biggest democracies signed or committed to a total of $15bn worth of deals.

Beyondbrics has compiled a breakdown of the deals between US and Indian companies – with their approximate value and estimates of the potential jobs they could create. Continue reading »

Jeff Immelt’s message was clear. If India wants to escape protectionist pressure on its IT outsourcing sector, it needs to up the pace on infrastructure delivery and give more opportunities to US companies.

Speaking at the US-India Business and Entrepreneurship Summit in Mumbai, Immelt, the boss of GE, said the US had been let down by a sector of the Indian economy that held promise but where spending was slight. “You guys are not living up to your side of the bargain,” Immelt told a room full of India’s top executives. “There is a trillion dollars of infrastructure investment in India and it’s not happening.” Continue reading »