Lobbying lawmakers to approve the 123 Agreement before the close of the 110th Congress, the world's largest business federation, the US Chamber of Commerce, says that if American companies are allowed to compete in India, even modestly, it could support 2.5 lakh high-tech jobs.
"If US companies are allowed to compete, a modest share of that business could support 250,000 high-tech American jobs," R Bruce Josten Executive Vice President of the apex body representing more than three million businesses, said in a recent letter to the US Congressmen.
With India's 34-year nuclear isolation now history, the opportunity for US companies today is tremendous, with an expected 30,000 to 60,000 MW of new nuclear generating capacity by 2030, representing a potential USD 150 billion of new investment, Josten said.
He emphasised that Congressional nod was essential to compete with French and Russian nuclear firms who are already operating in the Indian market.
At the same time, William J Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, who testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Friday had given a more modest figure of 3,000-5,000 new direct jobs and about 10,000-15,000 indirect jobs in the US if American firms won two bids for new nuclear plants in India.
Stating that the Indo-US civil nuclear deal enjoyed the support from the US nuclear industry, Burns had pointed out that New Delhi had indicated that it planned to import at least eight new 1,000-megawatt power reactors by 2012, and additional reactors in the years ahead.
"Preliminary private studies suggest that even just two of these reactor contracts for US firms would add 3-5 thousand new direct jobs and about 10-15 thousand indirect jobs in the United States," Burns had said.
Burns had also pointed out that by 2025, India will likely rank among the world's five-largest economies. "It's already among our fastest-growing export markets. It will soon be the world's most populous nation."
He said the bilateral civil-nuclear initiative also advanced the common strategic vision.
Environmentally, the Initiative will help India's population to meet their rapidly rising energy needs.
India is growing at rates of 8 to 9 per cent per year, and to sustain those rates of growth, it must expand its supply of energy exponentially.
Between 1980 and 2001, India's demand increased by a staggering 208 per cent, Burns said.
By contrast, China, so often described as the world's next big energy consumer, saw just a 130 per cent increase -- about half of India's -- over the same period, he pointed out.
India will soon outstrip Japan and Europe as an oil importer, he predicted.
The senior Bush Administration official also drew the attention of the lawmakers that India planned to double its capacity to generate electricity in the next seven years.
However, India relied primarily on domestically-produced coal whose ash content was double that of American coal and emitted far more nitrogen oxide, an element in smog, and carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas.
"This means that India will be one of the world's largest-producers of greenhouse gas emissions. And so its decision to rely, in part, on clean and efficient nuclear energy positively affects our own environmental future, not just India's," Burns had said
Herman Hesse
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