New Delhi: Donald Trump woos India Inc to invest more in US

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday wooed Indian industry leaders to invest more in America, promising to reduce more regulations in his country as he looked for overseas investment to boost the economy there.

Speaking at a high-profile CEO round-table which included captains of the Indian industry such as Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Trump reassured that regulations "will only get better" for investment in the US.

The Indian industry leaders apprised the US President of their ongoing respective businesses and investments in the country. "I want to thank you all. Congratulations on your success. Hope you come to the United States and invest more billions because I view it not as billions, I view it as jobs. We have great people," he told the gathering.

When pointed out that businesses still have to go through regulatory challenges -- especially administrative and in the legislative environment -- in the US, Trump said, "Some of the regulations you have to go through are statutory process. We are going to cut lot more regulations. A lot of them will be cut and you will see a big difference and it will only get better." Stressing on the need for companies of the US and India to invest in each other's country, Trump said governments can only aid in creating jobs and it is the private industry that actually creates jobs.

Stating that he has been working closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said, "We create jobs here, and he creates jobs over there through yourselves." On Modi, he said, "Somebody said he is such a nice man and I said well he is actually he is a very tough man but he is a nice man. He is doing a fantastic job."

During the interaction, he said a trade deal with India is in the works but did not share any details. "It has been an honour to be here," he said on visiting India. "We just did a lot of business with India where they will buy helicopters worth $3 billion."

Claiming that he is going to win the coming US presidential elections that will cause the markets to boom, he said his government has done a lot for the economy, healthcare and military. Trump reiterated that under his leadership the US economy has grown and has "never been as good as it has been" but has been held back by the upcoming elections.