Indian-Americans have responded to a clarion call by a leading Indian trade consultant to turn their villages back home smart.

This was the outcome of a 15,452-km-long road journey undertaken by Jagat Shah between June and September, with the sole aim of connecting entrepreneurs for investments and creating jobs.

“Even the former Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, who interacted with us at one of our events in the US, has adopted his native village,” said Shah at the concluding ceremony of his mission here on Tuesday, which was held under the auspices of the US Commercial Service; Startup India, a mission of the Indian Ministry of Commerce; the US-India Importers Council; and Etihad Airways.

Mentor on Road Shah’s Mentor on Road (MoR) mission covered 35 cities in 24 US states during the 78-day-long journey held in two legs. He interacted with nearly 4,400 small-and-medium entrepreneurs and start-ups in the US to make them aware of the business opportunitiesin India.

MoR has already submitted quick market research reports to 60 companies in the US that are keen on the project.

Cumulative investments of the US in India in 2015 amounted to $23.8 billion in 2015, whereas India’s total investments was $9.2 billion. Nearly 2,000 American multi-national enterprises operate in India at present and employ over a million people, according to estimates by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

US-India trade The US is India’s second-largest trading partner, while India is US’ ninth largest partner. The total value of US-India bilateral trade increased from $37 billion in 2005 to $109 billion in 2015.

In the same year, the US exported goods worth $21.5 billion to India and services amounting to $18.1 billion.

Next mission Shah, who undertook his first MoR drive across India in 2015, followed by Sri Lanka this year, said his next destination would be Africa next year, where he plans to cover 16 countries in 110 days.

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