After more than three years of discussions, delays and renewed commitments, the government of India has opened a consulate general in Atlanta, Gov. Nathan Deal announced in a prepared statement Jan. 6.

The consulate will be staffed by 20 people. It started providing services to 290,000 Indians across the Southeast at the beginning of the new year.

The office is led by Consul General Ajit Kumar, who formerly served as the Indian consul general in Durban, South Africa, and Frankfurt, Germany. Mr. Kumar was also his country's ambassador to Zimbabwe.

Aside from Georgia, five states - Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee - and two territories, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, are under the consulate's jurisdiction. Georgia alone is home to about 100,000 Indian nationals, according to the governor's office. 

In addition to visas, passports and other services, the new government outpost will focus on trade and investment, giving a boost to consistent state efforts to grow closer to India.

"This marks a significant milestone in Georgia's international evolution," Mr. Deal said in a statement. "The consulate general is the crowning symbol of the dynamic business and cultural connections India shares with our region and state."

For the country's size, Georgia's trade with India is limited but growing steadily. At $562 million, India was the state's 15th largest export destination, and at $1.04 billion, its 12th largest source of imports in 2010. Both categories grew by more than 30 percent over the previous year, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

India has had a greater impact in terms of direct job creation. Large Indian companies, particularly in information technology, have hired thousands locally and continue to build significant training operations. Wipro Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and NIIT Technologies are among prime examples.

GlobalAtlanta reported in late 2008 that the country was planning to open a consulate during the following year. Over the ensuing two years, Indian ambassadors continued to reiterate that commitment but failed to pull the trigger. During that time, Delta Air Lines Inc. started and stopped a nonstop flight from Atlanta to Mumbai. 

Last year, GlobalAtlanta reported that complaints at the Indian consulate in Houston increased the need for a new outpost in the Southeast. 

GlobalAtlanta is planning a reporting trip to India in the coming months as part of its Emerging Markets Series in partnership with Georgia State University's Center for International Business Education and Research. China was the first country covered in the series, with Mongolia next on the docket.

The Indian consulate brings to more than 70 the number of countries with a trade office, consulate, honorary consulate or binational chamber of commerce in Georgia, according to the state.

Although the consulate officially opened this month, Mr. Kumar has been active in the community over since arriving in the middle of last year. Read more here: Diplomatic Digest: 2011 Turnover in Atlanta's Consular Corps 

The consulate is located in a temporary office space on the fifth floor at the Pinnacle Building in Buckhead at 3455 Peachtree Road. It is awaiting approval from its home government in New Delhi and the U.S. State Department on a pending contract for its permanent space, according to Chris Young, Georgia's chief of protocol. 

The office can be reached at (404) 995-7005 or by email at cg.atlanta@mea.gov.in. 

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