Ontario's Premier Concludes Successful Trade Mission to India

Premier Kathleen Wynne wrapped up her first mission to India today in Mumbai, where 16 new agreements between businesses and institutions from Ontario and India were announced, bringing the total number of agreements signed during the mission to 65. These agreements are valued at over $240 million and will create more than 150 high-value jobs in Ontario.

“The tremendous success of the mission builds on our longstanding relationship with India and also reinforces Ontario’s profile on the world stage,” Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment, and Infrastructure said. Ontario and the State of Maharashtra signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will focus on strengthening connections in key commercial areas including: urban infrastructure, information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and education.

Delegates accompanying the Premier on the mission also signed agreements that will help Ontario and India share their expertise and knowledge:

• eCAMION, Ryerson University Centre for Urban Energy and L&T Technology Services will work with the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation and Anna University-Ryerson University Urban Energy Centre to launch India’s first community energy storage system at Anna University on the Tamil Nadu state grid.
• With the goal of providing customers with safe and healthy drinking water through cutting-edge technologies and customized water solutions,  Process Research ORTECH (PRO), a Mississauga-based company that incubates and commercializes innovative technologies for process industries, signed a $10-million MOU to form a strategic partnership with Eureka Forbes, India’s leading health and hygiene company. Through this collaboration, the companies will leverage their core competencies and skills to introduce a unique and innovative technology with Automated Variable Filtration (AVF), a high-quality water filtration system, to India.
• Seneca College and College of Engineering Pune announced that they will launch an innovative project competition in the area of h ealth care through Seneca’s incubator HELIX (Health Entrepreneurship and Lifestyle Innovation Xchange). This tri-party MOU, also with the City of Markham, will promote global entrepreneurship among young entrepreneurs from India and Ontario.
• Clearford Water Systems and Essel Group announced that they will work together to bring an all-in-one wastewater collection and treatment system to India. This includes identifying a village for a demonstration site.
• McMaster University and Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay announced that they will work together on new collaborative research initiatives and training models. Key areas are automotive research, materials and biotechnology.
• DataWind announced three MOUs during the mission. In Amritsar, the company announced a new product for the Indian market designed in Ontario. In Hyderabad, the company announced a new partnership with the Government of Telangana to open a manufacturing base, which is expected to be in production within months. In Mumbai, the company announced a new relationship with Naaptol to develop 4G tablets in India.

The Premier also met with representatives from several Indian companies including: ICICI Bank, Mahindra Group and the Tata Group  to promote Ontario as an ideal place to invest, and participated in a financial services roundtable held by the Canada-India Business Council.

The Premier attended a Bollywood-style film event in Mumbai, where she met with leaders from India’s film industry to promote Ontario as an ideal location for future productions.  The province of Ontario has International Trade offices in Mumbai, and New Delhi.  The mission included a brief meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.