Ronan Sen

India will open a consulate in Atlanta next year, the nation's U.S. ambassador, Ronen Sen, told GlobalAtlanta Oct. 28.

“That's going to happen,” he said at a ceremony in the Georgia Senate chambers celebrating Indo-Georgia friendship.  “It's going to happen very soon.”

It will be a full consulate, handling visas and other services but also promoting “cultural, commercial, educational, scientific links between Georgia and India,” Mr. Sen said. “Our relationship is burgeoning. We are just starting to realize the potential. Everything points to a very robust relationship.”

The goal he said, is "job creation in both directions."

Atlanta was chosen for a consulate in part because of its strong Indian-American community and its strategic location in the U.S., Mr. Sen said.

“It's a hub, a transportation hub,” he said.

He said Delta Air Lines Inc.’s new direct flight between Atlanta and Mumbai was also a favorable factor. 

No exact location has yet been chosen for the consulate, Mr. Sen said.

The ambassador met with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue Tuesday during a celebration of Senate Resolution 1248, adopted last March as an expression of friendship between the citizens of India and the state of Georgia. The event also celebrated Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.

India's economy has not escaped the recent worldwide economic downturn, Mr. Sen said. Yet India is holding up well, he added.

“Our policies have been conservative,” he said. “The exposure of our banks has been extremely limited.”

He encouraged U.S. companies to look at India not only for imports, but also as a huge potential market for U.S. goods.

“India is, after all, one of the largest markets in the world,” he said.

The population of the country - more than a billion people  - means that economies of scale can make it possible to offer goods inexpensively. He cited telephones as an example.

A decade ago, telecommunications in India was struggling, he said.

“Sometimes you had to make yourself shout to be heard,” Mr. Sen said.

Today, India has “the fastest growing telecom market in the world—more cell phones than the U.S.,” he said. That is possible, in part because the market is so huge, companies can offer service at high volume and very low prices.

State officials leave on a trade mission to India on Nov. 1, when Delta launches its first flight to Mumbai using a long-range 777 airplane.