According to the US Embassy sources, during its 10-day visit, the INL delegation will interact with leaders and researchers in government, industry and academia. Their visit includes meetings with representatives of higher education at the India Institute of Technology-Bombay, the Department of Atomic Energy and its two nuclear energy laboratories, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Ltd, the National Thermal Power Corporation, and a number of industry representatives. While in Mumbai, INL will also present a charter to the newly established India Section of the American Nuclear Society.

'All advanced nuclear energy nations benefit by understanding each other's nuclear enterprises and collaborating where appropriate,' said INL Director and delegation head John Grossenbacher.

After representing the Energy Department during the negotiations of the 123 Agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation, INL hosted the first India-US working group meeting and arranged for U.S. technical support of the working group’s second meeting in January 2010 in Mumbai. Similar INL delegations have visited China, South Korea,
France, Canada, and Norway.

Meanwhile the US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has arrived in India for high technology trade mission and is leading a delegation comprising of 24 US companies.

On the first stop, Locke highlights mutually beneficial trade with a visit to a local small business that uses technology developed by a US company.

He kicked off a high-technology trade mission today in New Delhi to promote exports of leading US technologies and services related to civil nuclear energy, civil aviation, defence and homeland security, and information and communications technology. The mission will continue through February 11, and also make stops in Bangalore and Mumbai.

Highlighting the kind of mutually beneficial trade that President Obama talked about during his visit in November, Locke visited a neighborhood grocery store in New Delhi that is using technology developed by a US company to market its products, manage its customers and organize its business operations. Intuit, based in Mountain View, Calif, created “GoConnect,” a new innovative mobile and web-based marketing service that is helping Indian micro and small businesses grow and improve the way they communicate with their customers. Intuit’s new application was first announced during the President Obama’s visit to India.

'Intuit's GoConnect technology is a prime example of the kind of mutually beneficial trade that creates jobs in both countries, creating opportunities from the Intuit offices in Northern California to a neighborhood grocery store in the streets of New Delhi,' said.

Secretary Locke. 'We look forward to finding more commercial opportunities like these during this trade mission.'

GoConnect was developed in both India and the US. The data is hosted in Intuit's data center in Quincy, Washington.

Locke had accompanied President Obama to India in November, 2010 where they witnessed more than $10 billion in business deals between US.companies and Indian private sector and government entities, supporting 50,000 American jobs.

The delegation, which also includes senior officials from the Export-Import Bank (EX-IM) and the Trade Development Agency (TDA), will also make stops in Bangalore and Mumbai, where Locke will highlight export opportunities and efforts to break down tariff and non-tariff barriers for US businesses in the advanced industrial sector – civil-nuclear trade, defense and security, civil aviation, and information and communication technologies.

While in New Delhi, Locke hold a series of bilateral meetings with Indian government officials, before heading to Bangalore for the second stop of his trip.

The pace of trade between the United States and India is accelerating. Between 2002 and 2009, US goods exports to India quadrupled, growing from $4.1 billion to more than $16.4 billion. Through the first eleven months of 2010, U.S. merchandise exports to India totalled $17.6 billion, up 17 percent from the same period in 2009. With economic growth estimates at about 9.7 percent in 2010, India is a key market for the Obama Administration’s National Export Initiative, which aims to double U.S. exports in five years.

Speaking at a luncheon reception at the Confederation of Indian Industries, Locke said “In the days ahead, my team at the Commerce Department, as well as colleagues from the US Export-Import Bank and the US Trade and Development Agency will be helping these companies pursue new commercial opportunities in India – and helping US and Indian firms integrate into one another’s supply chains”.

He said that the US not only welcomes India as a rising global power, but also fervently supported, and worked to help make it a reality.

“In just the last few years, the US has signed a historic civil nuclear agreement that will help India power its future. We support India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council to reflect the reality that India is no longer just an emerging power. As President Obama said, India has emerged. And this past November, the US implemented reforms to our export controls that will treat India similarly to our closest allies and trading partners. In the last two weeks, the US Commerce Department removed the last remaining nine Indian defence and aerospace companies from the so-called “entity list.” These nine companies include the subordinate entities of the Indian Space Research Organization and the Defense Research and Development Organization. And further changes to US export control policy toward India will continue in the months ahead”, he said.

These measures have paved the way for the 24 companies to explore new avenues of cooperation and commerce in India in this week, he said.