About 200 American companies are seeking to shift their manufacturing base from China to India post the general elections, a top US-based advocacy group said in an interview with PTI.

The US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum's (USISPF) President Mukesh Aghi told PTI that companies are talking to them about how to set up an alternative to China by investing in India.

Aghi said that USISPF's recommendation to the new government would be to accelerate the reforms and bring transparency in the decision-making process. In his reply to what the agenda of the new Indian government should be to attract investment, Aghi suggested that New Delhi needs to accelerate reforms, be more transparent in the process and engage more.

He said that Mark Linscott, the former Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asian Affairs, is working with USISPF member companies to come up with a recommendation as to what India needs to do to enhance its exports and work up from that perspective.

Aghi feels that India should start thinking of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US as it will eliminate concerns of cheap goods coming from China.

He further explained that this will put barriers to Chinese goods while providing the US access to the Indian market and Indian companies will have more access to the US market, reducing issues like GSP.

Aghi said that they have formed a high-level manufacturing council within the member companies, led by John Kern, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations at Cisco who are putting a document together detailing what India needs to do to turn it into a manufacturing hub.