4 min readGandhinagarJul 29, 2023 01:44 AM IST
First published on: Jul 29, 2023 at 01:44 AM IST
India presently has a “golden opportunity” to seek investments, Mike Hankey, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai, said on the sidelines of Semicon India 2023 inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday. Speaking with The Indian Express, the diplomat also spoke about the role of his government as more and more US firms look at expanding base in India.
“I think India has a golden opportunity right now, frankly, to get investments. Take a look at what is happening with Semicon India. You’ve got companies and countries realising that limited sources of these semiconductors are exposing a vulnerability in supply chains and overreliance on certain countries. And that is India’s opportunity. So just as this week, you’re seeing these investments from major leading US semiconductor firms,” Hankey asserted.
He further said, “But it’s going to be up to those companies specifically. Our role as a government is to try to set the operating conditions well to allow those companies to succeed.”
He further opined that the nature of investments in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit next year would be “around fintech, renewable energy, software, semiconductors, and electronics”.
“I just have been hearing about those focus areas recently. So I think what we’re going to need to do is take a look at the US companies that might come out (to invest in these areas),” he said. Talking about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global supply chain, Hankey added, “In all sorts of supply chains, whether it’s food, semiconductors or other goods, I think Russia’s brutal, and aggressive invasion of Ukraine has really shown the severe impact that can come from the overreliance on a single source or a small number of sources for anything. I think that’s part of the reason why you see so many firms right now thinking, well, how could we, how could we expand?”
With India finding vast lithium reserves recently and the US focusing on a clean energy transition, Hankey said, “India has signed up for mineral securities partnership when the Prime Minister (Modi) was in the US and that is part of a global effort that India and the United States have to identify these critical materials that are necessary for a clean energy transition”.
Reflecting on the migration of many Indians to the US each year, Hankey said his country’s top concern has been to “facilitate students coming to the US”.
“That is not an automatic path to immigration, but it is a path that many people begin with and when you come to study in the United States, we take a look at the numbers there. Indian students have topped the list of students coming from other countries to the US since last year. As I said, being a student doesn’t guarantee immigration. But it can be a path for many.” Hankey added.
On the recent cases of illegal immigration to the US from Gujarat, Hankey said, “It’s not something we would support. We want to see people following the legal paths, and I’m very proud of my team here in Mumbai that we’re the center of all legal immigration into the United States for all of India. So we’ve got tens of thousands of people coming through and following the legal paths, doing it successfully and efficiently. That’s really the preferred way that we go,” he further added.
There are about four million Indian Americans in the US right now, he further stressed. “We have a Vice President of Indian origin. We have people in charge of major government agencies. So as a country, the US really has made (itself) stronger through diversity,” he asserted.
Mike Hankey, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai. (Express File Photo) 
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