Hyderabad :
The US city of Indianapolis has called upon Indian companies in the information technology and pharmaceuticals business to consider setting up their bases offering support.
A high-powered business delegation headed by Greg Ballard, Mayor of City of Indianapolis, capital city of the US State of Indiana, today interacted with industrialists at an event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Andhra Pradesh.
Sharing the initiatives taken by Indianapolis, the Mayor said they have accorded priority for power generation through renewable energy sources. “We have huge wind farms and now solar photovoltaic units are being set up. There is potential for sharing knowhow for their implementation,” he said.
Raju Chinthala, President, Indianapolis Hyderabad Sister Committee, said Hyderabad was chosen for association amidst competition from Bangalore and Pune. There is a strong local community and more than 10,000 Indian families live there. This provides opportunities for collaboration.
“We are looking at student exchange programmes where those pursuing higher studies can come to Hyderabad for few weeks and train here. Likewise Indian students could experience the same in Indianapolis. This could cover higher education areas and even school children,” he said.
Traditionally, businesses tend to pick up some cities in the US and miss out on others with similar or even better opportunities. It is therefore, right time to consider Indianapolis. Indianapolis is strong in agriculture sector and is home for Dow Agro Sciences and Purdue Research, he said.
So far, two IT firms from Indianapolis have set up bases in Hyderabad. There is potential to share knowledge on agriculture practices and learning from research in Agriculture University here and Purdue. Hyderabad and Indianapolis have interesting similarities. Like outer ring road in Hyderabad, it has 465, a road network connecting airport, Raju said.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by The Hindu Bureau rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in / Hyderabad – April 16th, 2013