India emerging as big competitor to China, tax cut helps; Larry Kudlow

'People are losing trust in China and India becomes a big competitor. And if I'm not mistaken India has slashed its corporate tax rate. So it may be a very attractive investment place and India is a great ally of the US'

NEW YORK: India is emerging as a big competitor to China and New Delhi's corporate tax rate cuts makes it attractive for investors, according to US President Donald Trump's top economic adviser.

Addressing reporters at the White House on Thursday, Larry Kudlow, head of the National Economic Council, said: "People are losing trust in China and India becomes a big competitor. And if I'm not mistaken India has slashed its corporate tax rate.

"So it may be a very attractive investment place and India is a great ally of the US."

Kudlow said that he had recommended the corporate tax cut to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met him 18 months ago.

India cut the corporate tax rate last September from 30 per cent to 22 per cent for companies existing at that time and from 25 per cent to 15 per cent for manufacturing new companies.

Earlier when he was asked about recent investments in India running into over $17.5 billion by US tech and ecommerce companies, he said sarcastically that India was "unfortunately a very protectionist country; so I'll just wish them luck. But a lot of population".

He indicated that he was not opposed to the investments by those companies in India in the midst of Trump's America First campaign and efforts to bring manufacturing back home.

"We are not closed to commerce, international commerce. Those are great American companies, bulk of their operations are here."

The exodus of American companies out of China would be principally technology, pharmaceutical or pharmaceutical supply chain-type companies, he said.

"I know of a number of plans." The attitudes of US business towards China is changing because of "the experience with the China flu and the lack of transparency and assistance to the rest of the world", Kudlow said.

The adviser said that he foresaw a "like a textbook shift in attitude from the long complicated supply chain based overseas to something not only closer to home, but home" and businesses were going to do it on their own.

This year Walmart announced an investment of $1.2 billion in Flipkart and Amazon $305 million in Indian operations.

Google has said it is investing $10 billion in India over five years and of that 4.5 billion will be with Mukesh Ambani's Jio, the technology and communications giant. Facebook also plans a $5.7 billion investment and Intel $253.4 million in Jio. (IANS)

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