Inside Utah’s India business trip delegation
Across six cities in India, World Trade Center Utah led a business trip focused on building partnerships and opening new avenues for Utah’s global growth. The delegation — made up of Utah companies, educators, and legislators — explored opportunities to expand Utah’s presence in one of the world’s most dynamic markets.
Throughout the visit, Deseret News journalist Gitanjali Poonia reported on the delegation’s progress, and outlets across India spotlighted the trip as it unfolded. Together, this coverage highlights how Utah continues to strengthen international relationships and create pathways for long-term collaboration.
Below is a digest of the international media stories from the trip.
Utah keeps up its push for foreign trade opportunities. Next up, India
World Trade Center Utah’s two-week trade mission to India kicks off Monday.
A handful of Utah companies from different sectors, including healthcare and manufacturing, will travel to six cities, starting in Mumbai and ending in Bangalore over the next 13 days.
In the largest democracy in the world, a delegation from Utah sees possibility
Guruprasad Sowle, the president and cofounder of Indus International Research Foundation and an advisory board member at World Trade Center Utah, said the U.S., and Utah specifically, is actively looking to India as “an alternative for China.”
Sowle considers the tariffs a passing phase, while the presence of Utah businesses exploring India as a potential manufacturing hub for their operations as well as a market shows a path forward.
Explore opportunities in Telangana: Sridhar Babu to US investors
IT Minister D Sridhar Babu has invited industrialists from the US state of Utah to explore investment opportunities in Telangana, stating that the state has emerged as a national role model in ease of doing business.
He said the government is focused not only on attracting investments, but also on long-term value creation, co-creation and contributing to the global economy through sustainable partnerships.
India-USA Trade Deal: Expected Soon?
On Global Lens, Utah Senator Stuart Adams and Jonathan Freedman, President & CEO of World Trade Center Utah, on how India can benefit from special ties with Utah.
”We see tremendous opportunity between India and the state of Utah.” — Jonathan Freedman
‘Relationships are everything.’ Utah delegation to India talks solutions for energy and pollution
This was the second time a Utah delegation paid a visit to the Indian Commerce Ministry. Jonathan Freedman, the president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah, led a delegation to the country in March 2024. Freedman said he hopes to continue building on this momentum and help develop opportunities between Utah and India.
A Utahn trade delegation talks what policy means for India
On the ground in India, a Utah delegation on a trade mission has sat in many meetings with various Indian states.
“I think the arc of the universe always bends toward the good over the long term,” state Sen. Dan McCay said. He is part of the trade delegation to India, among other Utah lawmakers, businesses, and academics.
Utah delegation in India, pitches rare earth collaboration
As Indian and US negotiators work to clear the sticking points on a trade deal, a Utah delegation comprising lawmakers and businessmen is holding discussions here about collaborating on critical minerals and hiring tech talent from India, pitching the state as the next Silicon Valley.
“There’s a real challenge right now with the ability to get critical minerals… It’s really important that there be multiple sources for the type of products that we need to allow a free market to exist.” — Senator J. Stuart Adams
Coal, manufacturing ... and theme parks? Where Utah can partner with India
“The quicker you can try to come into an emerging market, the better off you are. And India is emerging,” Senator Stuart Adams said.
After a multi-week trade mission, Adams said Utah hasn’t “even polished the surface, let alone scratched” it on what the future of this relationship could look like.
Adams said that plans are already in the works to bring delegations from India to Utah next year.
University of Utah and BYU explore connections with centers of learning in India
BYU and MIT WPU have discussed the idea of exchange programs and other partnerships in the last several meetings.
“We don’t all have to be alike but we can all work together, right?” Thompson said. He added he sees these philosophies of peace of interest in Utah, “where there’s very high political pressure … and an appetite for change.”
