Five of India's major ports, including Mumbai, will receive significant capacity expansions, following approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday. The projects, with an investment of $2.8 billion, should be awarded by the end of March. Four of the ports are container terminals; the fifth, in Mumbai, is a multi-purpose cargo berth.

As part of the 2014 budget, the government reduced the excise duty on scooters and cars of all sizes, ranging from compacts to SUVs, making new cars more affordable for Indians. At the same time, the government is requiring automakers to increase mileage by an average of 14 percent starting in 2016, in order to save fuel and reduce emissions. 

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will discuss shale gas exploration, collaboration on strategic oil reserves, exports of liquefied natural gas and renewable energy during his March visit to India. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation-led consortium is likely to tap U.S. expertise in shale gas exploration and mapping.

The U.S. should turn more attention to India as its economy recovers and it remains the key U.S. ally in the "tough neighborhood" of its region, U.S.-India Business Council president Ron Somers wrote in an op-ed in Roll Call. Somers argues the Senate's immigration bill "would seriously disrupt relationships" between U.S. companies and their Indian partners.

India's intellectual property protections are strong and well-enforced, Boeing and Doctors Without Borders testified to the U.S. Trade Commission. India works with "all leading Fortune 500 companies across the world and hence have world-class practices to protect IPR and information security for their global customers," Boeing said. Doctors Without Borders "strongly objects" to U.S. pressure on India.