New Delhi, Sept 24 : Chief executive of US based beverage giant PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi on Wednesday hailed the India-US nuclear deal calling it strongly in country''s interests.

A U. S. Senate panel on Tuesday voted to approve the U. S.-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-2 in favor of the deal, which would end the three-decade ban on U. S. nuclear trade with India and is seen by the White House as the cornerstone of a new strategic partnership with New Delhi.

Indian born chief of the soft drink giant said the deal would be extremely beneficial for country''s economic prosperity.

“India''s energy also can be clearly met by nuclear power. On civil nuclear power I really believe this is strongly in India''s interest. India''s economic prosperity depends on access to reliable electric supply. In all these fields United States can be a tremendous partner to India. Of the 400 nuclear reactors around the world, 104 are located in United States,” said Nooyi.

PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and has invested more than 700 million dollar in the country so far and expects its revenue from the country to triple in next five years.

Indian American Indra Nooyi has been ranked as the world''s third most powerful woman by Forbes in its 2008 list of the top 100 business women of the world. (ANI)