Pennsylvania woos investment from India

Our Bureau in Bangalore

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is all set to join the bandwagon of regions looking at luring investment and companies from India especially IT, biotech and food processing players. Companies from the PennState region are also eyeing opportunities to enter India with their products especially ‘snack and food product companies’.

One of the better known states in the United States Pennsylvania is focusing on IT and biotech and food processing companies from Bangalore while in other regions of the country it will look at other sectors including mining.

Presenting the country report on opportunities for Indian companies in the region, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorised representative director Sushama R Kanetkar said the focus initially was on Bangalore given the talent pool and companies operating in the hi-tech sector.

“We are willing to offer all single window services for companies interested in setting up operations in Pennsylvania State. We are also collaborating with companies in PennState which are interested in outsourcing to India and match-making with Indian companies listed with us,” Ms Kanetkar said.

According to her, a number of companies have approached her at the ongoing IT.com event.As per the data available, Pennsylvania has six out of the 10 major markets in the US within a radius of 500 miles from the state capital and close to 40 per cent of the US population and purchasing power.

“PennState also has a work force of over 6 million people and has the nation’s third largest number of colleges and universities and
occupies the sixth position in the total number of doctoral degrees awarded in the US,” she said. Incidentally, the well-known Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Technology are part of the region.

The state is also ranked fourth in industrial, electrical manufacturing and consumer electronic manufacturing and overall has the eight position in the hi-tech sector besides being a world leader in plastics and among the top five in food processing.

A key segment for the region was specifically the bio-tech sector where there were already close to 160 bio-tech companies and close to 158 labs in Pennsylvania, Ms Kanetkar said. There were also strong partnerships between pharma and bio-tech companies and this could be leveraged by Indian players, she added.