India has been wooing industrialists from all over the world. Now, in a first, the US Department of Commerce’s “SelectUSA” programme will hold India Road Show from tomorrow (October 13) to October 16 across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

The road show will have a half-day seminar with sessions by American professionals on investment visas, legal and financial issues, investment incentives, and successful investment strategies. This will be followed by one-on-one consultations with a range of participating US states.

The US delegation is being led by SelectUSA Executive Director Vinai Thummalapally. The ‘SelectUSA’ programme was launched in 2011 by president Barack Obama to promote business investment into the country.

The foundation stone for such a programme was put on paper with an agreement between The SelectUSA initiative and the Silicon Valley chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). They signed a memorandum of intent to work together to provide Indian entrepreneurs the data and assistance they need to facilitate their expansion into the United States.

The US has invited India to participate in the Commerce Department's ACE (Americas Competitiveness Exchange for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) programme.

At the first meeting of the US-India Information and Communication Technology Working Group, the US put forth a draft work plan to facilitate collaboration and development in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Digital India" initiative.

US deputy commerce secretary will lead a trade mission to further smart cities development in India and introduce US technologies and solutions to boost the energy efficiency of India's infrastructure. The Trade Mission will include visits to New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, and is scheduled to take place on Feb 8-12, 2016.

The US has also invited India to participate in the next round of the Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) organized by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Participants in the Challenge will work together with other international counterparts in developing a smart city framework and standards and technology road maps for interoperability.

US has also invited India to participate in its Smart Cities Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Programme.

This programme would initiate a regionally-owned planning process in India designed to build capacity and guide economic prosperity and resilience related to smart city and other projects.

It would provide a coordinating mechanism for individuals, organizations, clusters, local governments, and private industry.