India has a stable business environment and a vibrant democracy making the country a very good place for companies to do business, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at CNBC-TV18's Future Female Forward initiative on March 9.

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“There is tremendous headroom for India growing as you have a large workforce that's well educated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's investments in infrastructure, digitisation, and digital payments, all provide greater confidence to companies who want to do business here. It's why we come with so much optimism,” said Raimondo.

She said India is the fastest-growing large economy. "The rate at which you are growing; the group, we just came from, was talking about a doubling of certain kinds of business in the near term,” she said.

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Currently, the United States is pursuing an approach called "friend-shoring" to diversify away from countries with geopolitical and security risks to the supply chain. Under this, the US is proactively deepening economic integration with trusted trading partners like India.

With the cooperation of countries that share the same ideology, the US seeks to minimise its reliance on autocratic governments for critical resources like rare earth, magnets, and other items that can be utilised for military purposes. Additionally, the effort would look to diversify away from Russian producers of vital commodities, notably energy, food, and fertiliser.

Sectors under importance with friend-shoring are the semiconductor industry, green energy, telecommunications and the mineral industries. In all these sectors in recent months, the US has been trying to shift its dominance from Russia and China to other countries, primarily Asian countries.

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For instance, the US heavily depends on Taiwan for semiconductors, and a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan can trigger a shortage. So, the Joe Biden government has not only formed bilateral cooperation ties with South Korea for semiconductors, but on October 21, 2022, it also implemented a slew of strict controls on exporting American chip technology to China. This includes plans by the US company First Solar Inc. to develop a manufacturing facility in southern India and Apple Inc.'s ambitions to move some iPhone production from China to India.

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Talking about the business and economic atmosphere in India, Raimondo said she felt rejuvenated by the entrepreneurial spirit and confidence here. "I see a mutual desire to continue the US-India relationship," she said.

The US Commerce Secretary, who began her India visit on Tuesday, will participate in the US-India Commercial Dialogue and CEO Forum. Raimondo's visit to New Delhi will enhance commercial ties between the two nations.

Also read: Janet Yellen pitches more friend-shoring opportunities for India: What it means