Holcomb Heads To India On Trade Mission

Gov. Eric Holcomb left for a week-long trade mission to India Friday. The country has deep ties to the Hoosier information technology and manufacturing sectors, and thousands of Indian students attend college here.

Holcomb will meet India-based executives for Hoosier companies like Cummins, which is also a major employer of skilled Indian workers on visas.

He’ll also visit India-based firms that are growing in Indiana, such as Infosys. The tech services giant plans to hire 10,000 American workers in the coming years, including 2,000 at a new headquarters in central Indiana.

Infosys has tapped Purdue University as its training partner for those workers. According to the state, Purdue has more Indian undergraduates than any other American university, plus at least a thousand Indian grad students and faculty.

Suresh Garimella, Purdue’s executive vice president, calls India the school’s “top strategic partner country,” home to its biggest known foreign alumni base.

Garimella says this trip will further the state’s relationships with companies like Infosys and, “attract more jobs and investment into Indiana.”

Holcomb will meet with economic development officials in four Indian cities to talk about potential partnerships during his week-long trip. It follows past trade missions to Hungary, France and Japan — Indiana’s biggest foreign investor.