The newly re-elected Republican governor of South Carolina, Ms. Nikki Hayley arrives in India on November 13 on a 10-day mission involving the state’s commerce and tourism agencies. Gov. Hayley will be traveling to the Indian cities of Amritsar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi hoping to persuade companies to bring jobs to S. Carolina.
Haley is also slated to attend 40 of the delegation’s 90 scheduled meetings and events. The delegation’s 18 members, which also include representatives of businesses interested in exporting to India, are splitting their time between seven cities in six states. “It’s a brutal schedule, but we’ll work hard and hopefully have something to show for it when we get back,” she said. India, an emerging market with more than 1.2 billion people, ranks 16th in capital investment in South Carolina. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, South Carolina ranks 14th nationally in total exports to India, at $352 million last year, up from $110 million in 2005.
Ms. Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa Haley, who is the first Indian American woman to become governor of a American state has mostly downplayed her gender and Indian-American heritage publicly. She was born to Sikh parents but converted to Christianity and is married to Michael since 1996.
