CII hosts Governor Greg Abbott of Texas at Texas-India Business Roundtable
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, January 24 2024: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in collaboration with the Governor’s Economic Development and Tourism Office and the Texas Economic Development Corporation (TxEDC), hosted The Honorable Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas at a session on ‘Delivering Prosperity: Texas India Business Roundtable’.
The roundtable was chaired by Mr. R Mukundan, Past Chairman, CII Western Region and MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals Ltd. In his address, Mr Mukundan mentioned the economy of Texas is rapidly growing, and India is one of the biggest trading partners of Texas. CII shall continue to work on critical areas that will help to strengthen this special trade partnership between India and Texas.
Featuring CII members, women business leaders, and other business organizations from Mumbai, the Governor outlined Texas’ world-class, business-friendly climate that continues to attract new companies and drive innovation. The Governor also spoke about ways Texas and India can continue to build more robust trade and economic partnerships.
India is ninth among all nations for the number of foreign direct investment projects in Texas. According to CII’s flagship report, Indian Roots, American Soil, Texas is the number one destination for Indian investment and jobs created in the U.S. The report shows that Indian collective FDI stock amounts to nearly $9.8 billion in Texas, with Indian companies creating more than 20,000 jobs. Texas also features in the list of top business-friendly states in the US for Indian companies. In 2022, Texas’ total trade with India totaled $20.4 billion, making India the state’s 11th-largest total trade partner. In fact, 28 percent of all U.S. exports to India come from Texas.
During the Roundtable, Governor Abbott spoke about the growing ties between Texas and India. He highlighted that under his leadership Texas has been the number one state for business in America. He remarked, “With an unmatched business climate, growing and diverse workforce, and opportunities to succeed around every corner, Texas is the best place in America to do business,” said Governor Greg Abbott. “Texas also remains the most popular destination for Indian foreign direct investment and jobs created in the entire United States. After a very productive roundtable discussion with leaders from CII, I am confident that the relationship between Texas and India will grow stronger than ever before.”
Mr. R Mukundan, welcomed Governor Abbott and their 40-member delegation to India and said, “We are keen to build on our success and find avenues to further strengthen the business partnership with Texas. We will continue to work together to promote two-way trade and investment flows.”
This is Governor Abbott’s second trade mission to India, after his first outreach in 2018. Texas is home to the second-largest Indian American population in the U.S. and the most popular FDI destination for Indian companies in the U.S.
Texas has the eighth-largest economy compared to other countries at $2.4 trillion based on 2022 GDP. Texas has also been the top state in the US for foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last 20 years with more than 1,740 international firms operating in the state. Texas has been ranked as the “Best State for Business” by the nation's leading CEOs for 19 years in a row and was recognized in 2023 for the “Best Business Climate” in the U.S.
