US to help India close infra gaps: Yellen

Washington The US is actively working to help India attract more private sector capital to close its infrastructure gap, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said and asserted that India-US innovations can help push down the cost curves of new technologies and accelerate the world’s transition to a net-zero economy.

Yellen’s comments come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official State Visit to the US next week. Describing India as one of the US’s reliable trading partners, Yellen on Tuesday said the two countries are working to connect new communities to the global market so that they can move up the value chain.

“Looking forward, I believe that we have significant potential to grow trade and investment between our nations. Both of our countries are advancing what I call 'modern supply-side' policies -- investing in human capital, physical capital, and science and technology to boost our long-term economic potential,” Yellen said at the annual India Ideas Summit of the US-India Business Council.

Stating that Modi has launched a massive infrastructure programme -- just as the US is beginning to see the early results of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law -- Yellen observed that India’s infrastructure investments have significant potential to boost productivity and increase trade efficiency between the two countries.