India’s IPR laws needs to be recast: Lalit Bhasin

The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce is organizing its 10th Indo-US Economic Summit to explore investment opportunities as well as cooperation between various Indian industries and their counterpart in the US. In an exclusive interview with BI India, Dr. Lalit Bhasin, regional president of the chamber and an eminent legal personage shares his views on the Indo-US trade, India’s stand on WTO’s TFA and the key challenges faced by the US companies in India. Here are the excerpts:

Both India and the US are upbeat about doing business with each other. As a chamber, how have you contributed to the strengthening of ties between the two countries?

The Indo American Chamber of Commerce is the only bilateral chamber in the country. It is the association, which has both Indian and the US companies as its members. This chamber has been promoting business and economic relations essentially for the last four to five decades.

Every year, we have a summit which is the flagship event of the chamber that facilitates trade between the two countries. And at this junction when India can expect investments, most of which is likely to come from the US, the chamber is playing a proactive role and channelizes this investment into various sectors in India. I will give you an example.

The Indian legal fraternity has been constantly communicating with the US legal community and now we have developed an excellent rapport with them. This has helped the IACC to have a very active legal department within the chamber, which extends legal support to the business initiatives from both the countries. So you know we try to bring together the sectors of both the countries, be it services or manufacturing to facilitate better trade and economic ties between the two countries.

Apart from this, the chamber has been sending a delegation regularly to explore opportunities in the US as well as welcome their delegation that comes to India for the same purposes. Besides, the chamber can boast of having top leaders of both India Inc and America Inc as its members, which also helps in active engagement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a very successful maiden visit to the US. As the apex body for Indo-American trade, do you feel that the high-profile meeting addressed all the important issues that actually affect Indo- American ties?

Yes. I think most of the issues were raised by our Prime Minister in the meetings. The chamber too had raised concerns over matters such as high cost of visa and the disparity in social benefits given to Indian residents in the US. We had several meetings with the US embassy here and have been given a positive response. Besides, key issues like cooperation in defence and infrastructure sectors as well as providing a level-playing field to the Indian companies in the US was also taken up during the visit.

We know that India has taken a firm stand regarding Trade Facilitation Agreement at the World Trade Organisation and it’s a bone of contention between the two countries. Reports have suggested that such a strong view on TFA may adversely impact India’s trade ties with the US. As a chamber, what are your views on it?

We have to realise that we cannot do business with another country at the cost of our basic economic philosophies. If the US has got strong views on certain issues, then India too is entitled to hold onto its views on issues that are important for her. There may not be a common mid-point as far as TFA is concerned, but our disagreement should not hamper or affect our economic cooperation in other fields.

There is a saying that near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin. So, I have to first look after my skin. Similarly, food security is our basic right and we cannot sacrifice our national interest simply because it is not in the interest of a group of countries. Our chamber certainly backs our government as far as our national interest needs to be protected while at the same time, the US is entitled to have its own views.

But I would say that our relationship with the US is not so fragile that one disagreement can hamper the trade ties that we share with them.

The US has raised a red flag as far as our Intellectual Property Right (IPR) laws are concerned especially in the pharma sector. As a legal expert as well as the regional head of the chamber, what’s your take on it?

India’s IPR laws definitely need to be updated. While our domestic industries especially the domestic pharmaceutical sector has to be protected, we need to understand that it cannot be at the cost of going against the general trend in the IPR laws across the world. But then there are Supreme Court pronouncements that we have a responsibility towards our general public as far as medicines are concerned.

However, the general sentiment across the globe is that India’s IPR laws needs to be recast and bring into conformity with the IPR laws practiced in other parts of the world. We have taken certain steps in the areas of copyrights and patents and amendments have been made. But I would still say that our IPR laws require a fresh look.

In general, what are the concerns raised by the US companies regarding India?

The concerns raised by foreign companies are very basic. Firstly, India is not perceived as a tax-friendly country and high profile cases such as Vodafone, Nokia have left a bad taste for the potential investors. So one major concern that the US companies have is the taxation policies of the country. Also, with due respect to our judiciary system, the Coalgate scam has also marred India’s image as an investment destination overseas. Huge investments were made in the coal sector but now there is a sense of uncertainty amongst investors.

Besides, India is infamously known for red-tapism. Foreign players including those from the US feel that there is too much bureaucracy in the processes. And even though we claim a single window clearance for certain sectors but it actually isn’t so.

Apart from these issues, foreign investors have also raised concerns regarding the long list of compliances which is required at both Centre and state level. There are too many regulators and overlapping jurisdiction of the Centre and the states. People don’t know the situation even after before investing. Also, the corporate feel that there are too many obsolete laws which deter them from doing business in the country.

So, we as a chamber facilitate direct communication between the government and the corporate through this summit. We have government representatives who will directly engage with the US companies to understand the challenges faced by them in India and accordingly address it.

What kind of response do you expect from the 10th Indo-US Economic Summit in terms of investments vis-à-vis the previous edition of the summit?

We are not looking at the summit in terms of the investment we manage to get, but to help companies understand the laws and policies of both the countries better. At the 10th edition of the summit, we will be primarily pitching newer sectors along with the traditional ones for investments in India. The focus areas would be services, cyber security, media and entertainment, eCommerce, hospitality, tourism, skill development and education among others. This will lead the growth in business partnerships between Indian and American firms over the next decade.

The summit will also give an opportunity to various states in India to showcase their potential and highlight their industry policies. It will create a highly enabling environment for establishing B2B contacts with visiting trade delegation and representatives from the US and companies and their appropriate counterparts ranging from large corporate to SMEs engaged in various sectors.

This is the only summit that is officially being supported by the United States Commercial Service, which is the trade promotion arm of the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration.

Besides, the summit has come in after the successful visit of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US. So, we expect a lot of substantial outcomes from the summit.