Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has just returned from a trade mission to India, a trip that drew a wave of online abuse amid a broader rise in anti-Indian sentiment in the US. In a wide-ranging interview with HT, Gianforte brushed off the backlash, saying the visit had made significant progress despite the noise. He pitched India on buying more of Montana’s farm produce, while courting Indian technology and pharmaceutical companies to set up shop in his state.
So that’s number one. It’s the fifth largest economy and projected to be the third largest by 2030. Real GDP grew over 16% from 2021 to 2025, outpacing the growth of the overall US marketplace, and it was ranked the best place to start a business in 2025. That includes the best 10-year survival rates for startups. They’re going to hire about 2000 people making aircraft parts.
As you know, India is one of the world’s biggest and fastest growing markets. So this is an opportunity. Montana and India already trade with each other. India buys Montana pulse crops, which includes lentils, peas, and chickpeas. We’re the largest producer of these products in North America, and India also buys commercial aircraft parts that are manufactured here. The two economies are very complementary. India brings scale, technology, talent, and capital. Montana brings pulse crops, critical minerals, photonics, quantum expertise, and a fast-growing economy. So, our relationship is broadening, and the purpose of this trip was really to deepen existing relationships and find new opportunities. I’ll highlight three. Montana is a prime market for investment. It’s also a natural gateway to the North American marketplace for Indian companies. Montana is the fifth fastest growing economy in the US. So, three areas that we focused on while we’re there. The first is bioscience. Montana recently expanded our right to try law. This opens up new opportunities for clinical research and access to qualifying experimental treatments at a level not available in any other state. Indian biotech and pharmaceutical companies expanding into the world’s largest market for those products, which is the US, can utilise Montana clinics for trials in a way that’s not available in any other state. This will dramatically lower the cost of entry to the marketplace. Number two is agri-tech. Both India and Montana are fundamentally agricultural markets. Just as India has adopted innovation and technology, so has Montana. Precision agriculture and agri-tech were discussed. We have some upcoming visits from Indian agri-tech businesses looking at establishing a presence here in Montana. So, like India, Montana is home to world-class researchers. So we’re looking at collaboration between our universities on practical use technology like agriculture. And the third and last one I’ll mention is aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Boeing has a presence here in Montana. We visited the Boeing facility in Bengaluru. Janicki (Industries) just located here. We have a Department of War office in Montana. It’s an on-ramp for smaller companies to do business with the US Department of War. So this is a third area of potential collaboration.
