Chicago, June 16 (IANS) Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar has called upon American corporations and Indian American companies to look at India as a manufacturing hub and to enter into engaging commercial partnerships with Indian companies.

Speaking at a meeting at the India Engineering Centre here Thursday, he urged the companies to take advantage of the competitive benefits that India offers.

India had achieved a growth rate of 8.4 percent and was likely to achieve a double-digit growth rate on a sustained basis, Kumar said.

The minister further said India was determined to increase the share of manufacturing from 17 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to over 30 percent by 2020.

"A one percent growth in manufacturing would lead to a three percent growth in jobs and would thereby unfold huge employment generation opportunities in the hinterland of India", he said.

Citing various studies by Goldman Sachs, AT Kearney, World Economic Forum and
UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Kumar said India was one of the most preferred investment destinations of the world.

He cited a recent McKinsey report that said India has the potential to achieve the same level of productivity in the manufacturing sector as that of European countries with costs as low as 20 percent compared to them.

The meeting was attended by leading Indian American and American business leaders wishing to do business in India. Among the medium-sized companies which attended the meeting were Plante Moran, Lee Salberg International Group, LGO Global and Barnes, Richardson and Colburn.

A group of American securities and brokerage companies presented alternative and innovative methods for raising foreign capital for investment in India.

Kumar also told the gathering that Indo-US relations had undergone a significant change from one of contention to that of conciliation and a mutually reinforcing engagement.

"The Indo-US civil nuclear agreement of July 2005 was a clinching evidence of the growing relationship," he said.

The minister also met leading Indian Americans in the city and expressed appreciation of their role in enlisting support for the Indo-American civil nuclear pact.

Prominent Indian Americans who had extensive discussions with Kumar were Bharat H. Brar, chairman of Indiana's Medical Licensing Board, Sam Ramesh, managing director of the Illinois' Office of Trade and Investment, Rajinder Bedi and Raghu Nayak.

Kumar also spoke to Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr and thanked him for his support to the Indo-US deal.