India seeks US investment to form manufacturing hub

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Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma urged US companies on Thursday to jump on board India's rapid growth and help it expand its manufacturing base.

"I would like American businesses and Indian industry to come together to make India a manufacturing hub and one of the workshops of the world," Sharma said in a speech to a business group.

Toward that end, India is issuing a new foreign investment policy document on March 31 and a new manufacturing policy document "before the fall," he said.

Sharma's speech came one day after he and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk signed a framework agreement aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment flows.

The pitch also comes when high US employment and competitive pressures from China already have many US lawmakers worried about America's manufacturing base. The outsourcing of call-center and other service sector jobs to India has also raised concerns.

President Barack Obama, who hosted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House in November, is expected to visit India in summer or early fall, Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar told the business group.