Gov. O'Malley To Lead State Economic Development Trip to India

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced he will lead his first trade mission to India in late November, according to an announcement made late Friday.

The governor will visit Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad. Among those accompanying O'Malley will be Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker.

A spokeswoman for O'Malley did not return calls seeking comment.

In a statement, O'Malley cited India's rapid economic growth, which is expected to make the country the world's largest economy by 2050.

"With their industries modernizing and a young and career-oriented middle class, it is an ideal time to promote Maryland as a U.S. headquarters for Indian companies, particularly those in biotech and cyber security, and also open new doors for trade for our small and mid-sized businesses," said O'Malley, who reopened an office in New Dehli in 2009 to focus on bio- and information technology, as well as aerospace and defense.

O'Malley led a 68-member delegation to China, South Korea and Vietnam earlier this year. The trip led to $85 million in direct investment in the state, according to the governor's press release.

Justin Ready, a state delegate from Carroll County and the executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, said O'Malley should also focus on making the state more business friendly.

"We really would like to see some progress made on Maryland's regulatory and tax burdens for small businesses," Ready said. "The focus seems to be on pie in the sky and business from far away but not on the things we can do here in Maryland."

"What are we doing to make the state friendly for Maryland businesses?" Ready asked.

Elisha B. Pulivarti, executive director of the Maryland India Business Roundtable, said India "is a very important country" for Maryland.

"We are excited about it and we support him," said Pulivarti, whose group will honor O'Malley next month as well as Leggett for their work with the state's Indian community. "We want to bring as many businesses and investment to Maryland as we can. We want to create jobs. That's the bottom line."

Pulivarti said 5,000 businesses in Maryland are owned by Indian Americans. He said that many thousands more come to Maryland because of the proximity to Washington and because of the research and development efforts at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.

O'Malley, he said, is the "first Maryland governor to travel to India."