PM Modi meets leading American CEOs: Who they are, what was discussed – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held one-to-one meeting with top five American chief executive officers (CEO) from different key sectors.
On an official visit to the US, PM met the CEOs on his first day and discussed on a number of topics ranging from drones to 5G, semiconductor, and solar.
PM Modi encouraged them to step up their investments by highlighting the vast opportunities in India.
Here’s a look at the CEOs he met and what they discussed:
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon
In his meeting with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon noted that India has the scale for ambitious projects, news agency ANI said quoting sources.
Amon expressed enthusiasm to work with India on ambitious digital transformation programmes including in 5G, PM WANI and others. He also expressed interest in partnering with India to work in the field of semiconductors.

PM also discussed about India’s new drone policy and asked Qualcomm to trust Indian talent and start manufacturing with the advantage of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme it has to offer.
Qualcomm is a US multinational corporation, which creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless technology. The company has a huge presence in India including in research and development.
Cristiano Amon is the president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, and also serves on the company’s board of directors. He took charge as the CEO of the company on June 30 this year.
Before taking over as the CEO, Amon played a crucial role in spearheading Qualcomm’s 5G strategy as well as its acceleration and global roll out.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan
Indian American Shantanu Narayan is the president and CEO of Adobe, one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world.
As CEO, Shantanu has been responsible for transforming the company into an industry innvator by pioneering a cloud-based subscription model.
He joined the company in 1998 as vice-president and general manager of the engineering technology group. Eventually, he went to become the COO in 2005, CEO in 2007 and chairman of the board in 2017.
In his discussion with PM Modi, Shantanu appreciated India’s efforts in fighting Covid-19 and particularly in rapid vaccination.

The Adobe CEO expressed interest to contribute to India’s 75th anniversary of independence. He also expressed a desire to bring video, animation to every child in India.
They also discussed Adobe’s ongoing collaboration and future investment plans in India.
In addition, they also focused on India’s flagship programme Digital India, and use of emerging technologies in sectors like health, education and R&D.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar
First Solar has successfully commissioned 150 MW of Utility-Scale Solar Power to the Grid in India and has installed 1.8 GW of solar capacity in the country.
Early this year, it announced its intention to set up a new 3.3 GW Facility in India. As such First Solar is contributing to India’s plans to ramp up solar power generation to 100 GW by 2022.
Mark Widmar joined the company in April 2011 as the chief financial officer (CFO) and also served as the chief accounting officer from February 2012-June 2015. He became the CEO of First Solar in July 2016.
In his meeting with PM Modi, Widmar shared plans to use the PLI scheme for manufacturing solar power equipment with unique thin-film technology; and integrating India into global supply chains.

During the meeting, Modi elaborated on India’s efforts to harness solar energy, including the ‘One world, One sun and One grid’ initiative and investment opportunities in the sector, his office said in a tweet.
“They talked about India’s renewable energy landscape, particularly solar energy potential, and our target of 450 GW electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030,” the ministry said.
General Atomics CEO Vivek Lall
Indian American Vivek Lall became the CEO of General Atomics in June 2020.
In May 2018, he was appointed by the US government in a key advisory role for a two-year term to the US Cabinet Secretary heading department of transportation (encompassing entities like the Federal Aviation Administration) in Washington DC which affects US and global aviation policies and technologies.
On Thursday, PM Modi and Lall discussed India’s strides in drone technology, including the path-breaking reforms and PLI scheme, the PMO said in a tweet.

“They spoke about strengthening the defence technology sector in India. Lall appreciated the recent policy changes to accelerate defence and emerging technology manufacturing and augment capacity building in India,” the MEA said.
General Atomics, which opened its first office in India in 2018, is making significant contributions to deepen India-US defence and security cooperation.
It is working with both governments in an effort to provide India with the latest systems and technologies supporting national defence.
General Atomics has also partnered with Indian companies to develop solutions for Indian defence as well as capacity building.
Blackstone CEO Stephen A Schwarzman
Stephen Schwarzman is the CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, one of world’s leading investment firms with $684 billion asset under management.
Schwarzman has been involved in all phases of Blackstone’s development since its founding in 1985.
Interacting with PM Modi, Schwarzman discussed promising investment opportunities in India, including those under National Infrastructure Pipeline and National Monetisation Pipeline.
He briefed Modi about the New York-based alternative investment management company‘s ongoing projects in India, and their interest in further investments in the infrastructure and real estate sectors.

Blackstone, which started its operations in India in 2006 and has so far invested around $15 billion in various sectors including private equity, real estate, education, fashion, packaging and housing finance.
Blackstone Real Estate Fund is said to be the largest owner of commercial real estate in India.
The company played a key role in launching India’s first real estate investment trust (REIT) along with its partner Embassy Group in 2019 and has since then launched two REITs in the country.
(With inputs from agencies)