"Our six-day mission to India has already produced some significant results, with nearly $60 million in business deals for Maryland companies and millions more to come as additional deals with Indian partners are signed," Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley told reporters, a week after his return from the India that took him to New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The mission has opened new doors for Maryland to create jobs, bolster trade and investment and strengthen existing business and cultural relationships, he said.
"Together, with our entire delegation, we are sending a strong message to India's top business organisations and companies that Maryland is the gateway to doing business in the US," he said.
The high-powered delegation to the three Indian cities included top state officials and business community leaders.
O'Malley said two Indian companies plan investments in Maryland and eight Maryland businesses inked deals with Indian partners, with a combined total of nearly $60 million in business deals for the state and several additional deals worth millions still on the horizon.
"This mission was a huge success in terms of opportunities identified including six deals signed for Prince George's County," said the County's Executive Rushern L Baker III, a member of the delegation.
During his trip, the Governor met with a number of top Indian companies to promote Maryland as an ideal location for establishing US operations, and signed an agreement in New Delhi with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to create an India-Maryland Center in the US state to boost trade.
Ficci officials also announced that the business organisation would lead a delegation to Maryland in April 2012 and focus on establishing partnerships in biotechnology, renewable energy and infrastructure.
In Mumbai, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian S Johansson joined the US India Importers Council in the signing of an agreement committing Maryland and India to boost imports and exports, O' Malley said.
In the first nine months of this year, the Port of Baltimore saw $341 million in trade to and from India compared with $229 million from the same time frame in 2010 -- a 49
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