GOVERNOR O’MALLEY ANNOUNCES NEARLY $60 MILLION IN BUSINESS DEALS FOR MARYLAND, TOUTS SUCCESSFUL INDIA TRADE MISSION

India-based Jasco Nutri Foods plans $10M investment in Maryland facility with potential for 100 new jobs; Jubilant Life Sciences in Salisbury announces plans for major expansion

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 12, 2011) – A week after returning from an historic six-day trade mission to three of India’s largest cities – Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi – Governor Martin O’Malley today, joined by Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian S. Johansson, Secretary of State John McDonough, University of Maryland College Park officials, and other delegation members, announced that two Indian companies plan investments in Maryland and eight Maryland businesses inked deals with Indian partners, with a combined total of nearly $60 million in business deals for the State and several additional deals worth millions still on the horizon.

Governor O’Malley detailed the success of the mission – the first by a sitting Maryland Governor and the largest foreign trade delegation in State history – which also included keynote addresses to three of India’s largest business organizations and agreements with Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra to explore Sister-State relationships.

“Our six-day mission to India has already produced some significant results, with nearly $60 million in business deals for Maryland companies and millions more to come as additional deals with Indian partners are signed,” said Governor O’Malley. “This mission has opened new doors for Maryland to create jobs, bolster trade and investment, and strengthen existing business and cultural relationships. Together, with our entire delegation, we are sending a strong message to India’s top business organizations and companies that Maryland is the gateway to doing business in the U.S.”

“I was honored to join Governor O’Malley on this economic development mission to India. This mission was a huge success in terms of opportunities identified including six deals signed for Prince George’s County,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III. “We are committed to a mutually beneficial, long term relationship with India - its government, its people and its outstanding business community. We will continue to encourage Prince George’s County businesses to enter into profitable relationships with the Indian business community that will create jobs and generate new tax revenues.”

The Governor also met with a number of top Indian companies to promote Maryland as an ideal location for establishing U.S. operations, and signed an agreement in New Delhi with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) – the oldest and largest business organization in India – to create an India-Maryland Center in Maryland to boost trade between the two regions. FICCI officials also announced that the business organization would lead a delegation to Maryland in April 2012 and focus on establishing partnerships in biotechnology, renewable energy and infrastructure. In Mumbai, Secretary Johansson joined the U.S. India Importers Council in the signing of an agreement committing Maryland and India to boost imports and exports. In the first nine months of this year, the Port of Baltimore saw $341 million in trade to and from India compared with $229 million from the same time frame in 2010 – a 49 percent increase.

A delegation from the University of Maryland College Park, led by President Wallace Loh, also met with a number of major Indian universities, including the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and Delhi University, and signed several partnership agreements, including one with the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, which will enable the two institutions to exchange faculty and students and jointly compete for research grants, particularly in the area of global climate change and weather prediction technologies.

“I was pleased and thankful that Governor Martin O'Malley invited the University of Maryland to be part of his delegation to visit India, a land that is so rich in culture, history, and opportunity,” said Dr. Loh. “As a premier research and land-grant institution, the University of Maryland must be focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, while ever increasing our global connections for the benefit of our students, our state, and the nation. This trip served all of these objectives and more.”

In addition, Montgomery College signed a memorandum of understanding with the Wadhwani Foundation and Jindal Educational Initiatives, of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, to strengthen vocational education and instructor capacity in India and establish the India Vocational Faculty Development Center for Excellence (IVFDCE). The goal of the collaboration is to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate a technical trade instructor training program and related instructional materials. Montgomery College will share its expertise in curricula, pedagogy, and learning environments. This effort will train the trainers who will, in turn, prepare India's people for careers in the knowledge economy.

The mission yielded tremendous business interest in Maryland. Jasco Nutri Foods, an India-based manufacturer and exporter of organic food products, has entered into an understanding for development consulting services with Chesapeake Investments Group in Bowie to invest $10 million in opening a facility on a 1,500 acre location yet to be determined in Maryland. The plans for the location will be finalized over the next two months, but the new facility could generate up to 100 jobs when operational.

Also, Jubilant Life Sciences, one of India’s top pharmaceutical and life sciences companies with a drug manufacturing facility in Salisbury, also announced plans to invest $20 million to triple its warehouse space on the Eastern Shore and add new jobs. No timeline has been given for the expansion, but the company reports a dramatic increase in sales from $3 million in 2005 to $42 million this year and a jump in employees from 25 six years ago to more than 240 currently.

In addition, eight Maryland companies signed significant deals or joint ventures with companies in India. Several companies are continuing to have discussions with potential Indian partners, including ARINC, the Annapolis-based leading provider of managed IT services and support for the aviation industry, which joined Governor O’Malley for a meeting with India’s Minister of Civil Aviation Vaylavar Ravi to discuss the modernization of India’s airports and a tender issued by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to upgrade 25 of its airports. The U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service provided delegation members with the Gold Key Service, which connects U.S. companies with business partners abroad. In total, 10 Maryland firms conducted meetings in three cities with qualified agents, distributors and joint venture partners for a total of nearly 90 one-on-one, face-to-face business appointments with interested Indian firms.

“I would like to express my deep sense of pride and appreciation to Governor O’Malley for personally attending this meeting with us and endorsing ARINC for India and the recent AAI tender,” said Jim Martin, ARINC’s Asia Pacific Managing Director. “With his help, we hope to work closely the Ministry of Civil Aviation, AAI and other industry consortiums to help airports in India achieve world-class standards.”

“Premier Rides is fortunate to be located in Maryland, which has an intense focus on building international business and exports,” said Jim Seay, president of Premier Rides. “The global economic situation requires companies to be very dynamic and to be able to react quickly where the opportunities are emerging. The assistance provided by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development is a key element in Premier’s ability to both find business prospects and close on deals. The Adlabs project is a great example of where Premier’s global reach can go.”

The deals, by region signed, included:

Hyderabad:

· ANGARAI, a Greenbelt-based management consulting firm, signed an agreement with CI , a technology product development company based in Chennai, to pursue opportunities in mobile and web applications, potentially opening up an office in Maryland.

· Rockville-based Sheladia Associates, an engineering, architecture and development company, will provide design and project management services valued at $3.7 million for upgrading India’s National Highway 215 to a four-lane facility in the State of Orissa.

· Amarex, a Germantown-based clinical research organization, announced a partnership with Gaithersburg’s Shreis Scalene Sciences LLC to gain FDA approval for the medical device Cytotron, which uses a patented technology to treat regenerative and degenerative diseases such as cancer, osteoarthritis and multiple sclerosis. The device was invented and developed by Dr. Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chairman of Scalene Cybernetics in Bangalore, a technology and equity partner of Shreis Scalene Sciences.

· DataNet Systems Corp. signed an MOU with Health Management Research Institute and RT-MediBus Technologies to establish a MediHelp Health Helpline call center to assist in the delivery of accessible, affordable, quality, and cost efficient healthcare services initially for the citizens of Prince George’s County with the goal of expanding to the entire state of Maryland.

Mumbai:

· TripleStone Real Estate, a real estate development and management company based in National Harbor, signed an agreement valued at $5 million with Shree Naman Group of Mumbai to partner on potential hospitality and medical office projects in the Brandywine area of Prince George’s County.

· Premier Rides, a Baltimore-based theme park ride manufacturer, signed a deal valued at $7 million with Mumbai-based Adlabs Entertainment LTD, which is planning to build a theme park in India. Premier Rides will design and manufacture a custom theme park attraction that will employ the very latest technologies and provide a one-of-a-kind experience.

· Columbia-based DSM Nutritional Products, a leading supplier of nutritional lipids, vitamins, carotenoids and other products to the food, feed, pharmaceutical and personal care industries, renewed its partnership with Bangalore-based British Nutritions for the use of DSM’s life’sDHA™, vitamins and nutraceuticals in the fortification of existing and new brands of British Nutritions in a deal valued at $2 million.

New Delhi:

· CyberPoint International, LLC, a Baltimore-based global provider of cyber security products, solutions, and services, and Appin Security Group in New Delhi, India signed an agreement valued at $10 million to jointly develop new enterprise-level security solutions for mobile devices. The deal is expected to create new jobs in both Baltimore and New Delhi.

· Electro-Media Design Ltd., a Gaithersburg-based company that specializes in consulting and design services in event technology and acoustics for meeting and entertainment facilities, announced a partnership with ITC Hotels in India to provide contemporary design services for conference, event, and entertainment venues for their new properties and existing hotels, supporting ITC’s sustainable and green practices.