TRENTON– Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 354 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.

“I am honored to establish the New Jersey-India Commission to strengthen the cultural and economic ties between New Jersey and India for generations to come,” said Governor Murphy. “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.”

“I am delighted to join Governor Murphy today to establish the New Jersey-India Commission,” said Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “As Secretary of State, I am thrilled to welcome the commission to my department and look forward to overseeing its work building on the deep-rooted economic, cultural, and societal ties between New Jersey and India. New Jersey’s Indian population enriches our state, and through this commission we are creating further opportunities for collaboration.”

India is New Jersey’s second-largest foreign direct investor and the majority of New Jersey’s immigrant population hails from India. In September of 2019, Governor Murphy and Choose New Jersey led an economic mission trip to India, fostering economic relations and securing over 1,200 new jobs by expanding the presence of three Indian companies within New Jersey. Over the past two decades, India has invested $2 billion dollars into New Jersey, 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. “It is a potential story of dynamic convergence and confluence of India’s economic resilience, presence of a highly successful Indian-American community and America’s spirit of innovation, fostering a landscape ripe with opportunities across sectors. 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. This would also give a boost to the strong people-to-people connect that exists between India and New Jersey including in areas of education and knowledge partnership. We also look forward to Governor Murphy’s visit to India in the near future to take forward our partnership to new heights.”

“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. The Governor shall select one Chairperson from the appointees to lead. The commission is expected to provide advice to the Governor, as well as to the other New Jersey government agencies and departments.

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 Mehrota

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

Christina Zuk

For a copy of Executive Order No. 354, click here.

To read this Press Release on the State of New Jersey website, click here