Governor Phil Murphy Establishes New Jersey-India Commission
India-West Staff Reporter
TRENTON, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy has signed an order establishing the New Jersey-India Commission. The commission will be charged with advancing bilateral trade and investment and encouraging economic development in both New Jersey and India.
As India is the most populous country in the world with one of the fastest-growing economies, the commission aims to promote cultural and educational exchanges between New Jersey and India and to promote sustainable long-term economic growth.
“Following my visit to India in 2019, we have been committed to strengthening our relationship, building on the overlapping economic strengths that New Jersey and India have long shared. We take immense pride in the contributions of our vast Indian immigrant population, and, through this commission, we can ensure that we seize a new century of opportunities to grow together and pioneer new possibilities,” Murphy said.
India is New Jersey’s second-largest foreign direct investor and most of New Jersey’s immigrant population hails from India. Over the past two decades, India has invested $2 billion into the state, helping to create nearly 6,000 jobs in key sectors like life sciences and technology.
“Our partnership with New Jersey is unique in several ways,” said Consul General of India Binaya Srikanta Pradhan. “Governor Murphy’s initiative to establish the New Jersey-India Commission would add strength to already existing high level of economic engagement in terms of over $10 billion trade with New Jersey or several two-way investments.”
“We are thrilled that the Governor has established the New Jersey-India Commission,” said Wesley Mathews, Chair of the Commission. “The multiple economic missions the State has taken to India since 2019, including the number of sister-state relationships established and MOUs signed across higher education, life science, and the technology sectors prove that we have shared visions for our economies and peoples. I am eager to get to work with my colleagues in pursuit of an even stronger and more robust partnership.”
The New Jersey-India Commission will consist of no less than 35 and no more than 45 members, each appointed by the Governor.
Murphy has appointed the following to the commission: Dini Ajmani, Natasha Alagarasan, Sri Atluri, Snehal Batra, Coleen Burrus, Ravi Dattatreya, Kirti Desai, Parimal Garg, Vin Gopal, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, Kiran Handa Gaudisoso, Pavita Howe, Jaime Jacob, Monica Jain, Gurbir Johal, Suchitra Kamath, Krishna Kishore, Vidya Kishore, Kris Kolluri, Indu Lew, Jose Lozano, Wesley Mathews, Anjali Mehrotra, Deelip Mhaske, Raj Mukherji, Suresh Muthuswami, Srinivas Pallia, Anand Paluri, Falguni Pandya, Carrie Parikh, Rajiv Parikh, Gurpreet Pasricha, Deepak Raj, Jatin Shah, Huzaifa Shakir, Sterley Stanley, Ragy Thomas, Steven Van Kuiken, and Christina Zuk.
