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New Delhi, Mar. 31 (ANI): A new study by the Confederation of Indian Industry, “Indian Roots, American Soil: A Look at Indian Companies in the U.S. Economy” released yesterday evening in Washington, D.C., reported that India-based companies were responsible for saving thousands of jobs in the U.S. in recent years and have continued to hire locally wherever they have put down roots.

The study was released on Capitol Hill during CII’s event highlighting the jobs and investments created by Indian companies in the U.S. The event included the participation of CII - India Business Forum members: executives from 25 Indian companies that do business in the U.S. Ms. Meera Shankar, the Ambassador of India to the U.S. spoke in support of their contributions. The event was designed to highlight the growing benefit to the U.S. economy of Indian-based corporations.

The study, based on a survey of 35 CII-India Business Forum member companies, concluded:

# Since 2005, nearly two-thirds of Indian companies have added jobs to their U.S. operations.

# Together, these 35 companies employ more than 60,000 people across 40 states and the District of Columbia.

# More than four-fifths of workers at these companies are hired locally.

# An overwhelming majority of workers who are employed at these companies are American citizens.

# India-based companies that have operations in the U.S. have saved 2,585 jobs from being eliminated due to their acquisition of U.S. firms.

# The value of these acquisitions since 2005 is $5.9 billion.

The companies represent sectors including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, health care, energy, iron and steel and information technology.

“Indian businesses have invested widely in the U.S. economy in diverse sectors in the fields of services and manufacturing,” Ambassador Shankar said. “They have generated and sustained thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the U.S. economy and have contributed to the global competitiveness of U.S. companies.”

Emphasizing the partnership of both countries in bilateral economic relationship, Senator John Cornyn (Texas) said, “The relationship between the U.S. - the world’s oldest democracy - and India - the world’s largest democracy - has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Trade in goods and services between the United States and India has grown exponentially, creating countless economic opportunities for both our countries and providing U.S. consumers with access to affordable goods.”

CII organized a full day marathon of events, bringing together 25 member companies of the Indian Business Forum to highlight the investments and jobs created by Indian Inc. in the U.S. The program began with an interaction with Ambassador Shankar at the Embassy of India, followed by a panel discussion with Indian companies in the afternoon, and ended with an evening reception on Capitol Hill.

“This is CII’s first major attempt in bringing together Indian companies with operations in the U.S., as a group, to interact with members of the U.S. Congress. What we want to do is highlight the range and depth of the U.S.-India business relationship and to dispel some of the misconceptions attached to Indian companies,” said Kiran Pasricha, Deputy Director General, CII. “We want the Congress to understand and appreciate the growing contributions of Indian companies to the U.S. economy, and to U.S. society,” she added.

Participating companies in the Capitol Hill event included: Bharat Forge, Essar Americas, Export-Import Bank of India, HCL America, Infotech Enterprises, Infosys, Larsen and Toubro Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Infotech, L and T Hydrocarbons IC, Mahindra Satyam, Mahindra USA, Mindtree, Polaris, Ranbaxy, State Bank of India, Tata Communications, Tata Consultancy Services, Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, Tata Sons, Welspun, Wipro and Wockhardt. (ANI)