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BULLISH ON INDIA: Mr Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, at a CII meeting with Indian CEOs in the Capital on Thursday. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , May 26

"WE believe we have size and strength and want to use it to drive growth," said Mr Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, General Electric Company (GE), in his address to CEOs. He said the company was scouting for acquisitions in the financial and industrial sectors in India as Asia was the fastest growing economy and GE would like to take advantage of that.

He said his company was aiming an 8 per cent growth and markets in developing countries would drive this growth. He said that GE had pioneered the BPO business in India and needed to show the same "courage" in developing the market here. "It is a challenge," he said.

Mr Immelt said that the company was interested in resolving the Dabhol Power Company dispute, even as he outlined the main focus for the company's businesses in India to be energy, healthcare, infrastructure and financial services.

He said that the company never left India, not even in its difficult first phase in the early 1990s.

He divided the company's tryst with India into three phases, saying that the first phase was a study on how the company could take over products in the Indian market, in the second phase the company learnt how to work with Indian people and Indian companies and now the company was at its third phase where it would go back to manufacturing and driving growth through investments in key sectors.

"We think this is the time, to focus on customers and be bold on the market side," he said, describing the company before customers in India as "One GE."

Bullish on India's increasing "ownership class" and "evolution of Indian companies," he praised the partnerships GE had forged with companies such as Wipro, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Escorts.

Tie-up with Trehan

Meanwhile, GE also announced a partnership with Dr Naresh Trehan for establishing a world-class research and diagnostic facility to come up in Gurgaon by 2007.

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, has been in India since 1902, when it installed the country's first hydro power plant. In 1930, it set up International General Electric for sales of products and services. In 1997, it set up customer-contact-centre operations in the country. GE has invested approximately $600 million in the country till date and employs around 22,000 people here.

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