India Unlocked Episode 4: Trade and Investment Opportunities in Uttar Pradesh
When the Auckland Business Chamber, Deloitte and the Consulate General of India in Auckland surveyed New Zealand businesses earlier this year, one finding stood out clearly: understanding India’s individual states remains one of the biggest barriers to doing business successfully.
That’s why we created India Unlocked—a state-by-state event series designed to help New Zealand businesses better understand where the opportunities are, what makes each state unique, and how to engage successfully. For the fourth episode of this series, we focus on Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh is now India’s third-largest state economy, at roughly US$410 billion, anchored by a six-node defence manufacturing corridor, and by a new gateway: the Noida International Airport at Jewar, which opened this year. Add Kanpur’s leather trade and Noida’s electronics base, and it’s an economy diversifying faster than its reputation suggests.
Hear directly from a panel including India’s Consul General in Auckland and Auckland-based leaders with firsthand experience in Uttar Pradesh, on the state’s business environment, key industries and practical advice for New Zealand businesses looking to expand there.
Speakers
Gurdeep Talwar
President of the Uttar Pradesh Tourism & Business Advisory Board NZ
As President of the Uttar Pradesh Tourism & Business Advisory Board NZ, Gurdeep helps New Zealand businesses navigate one of India’s most complex and opportunity-rich markets. His perspective is shaped by deep personal roots — his family has lived in Lucknow (Capital city of Uttar Pradesh state) for generations — combined with international commercial experience in import, export, and cross-border partnerships.
Gurdeep’s governance portfolio spans multiple boards and community organisations across New Zealand, including Crown appointments, with a focus on transparency, community safety, strategic growth, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. He is known for cutting through complexity and delivering practical, actionable advice — the kind that comes from having lived the journey himself.
For New Zealand businesses looking at Uttar Pradesh, Gurdeep offers something rare: the credibility of someone who understands both sides of the table, and the track record to prove it.
Anne Collins
India FTA Implementation Manager of NZTE
Anne Collins is an international trade and market development leader who helps New Zealand businesses grow in global markets. With experience across commercial marketing, export development, international operations, and trade promotion, she has led a range of initiatives at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise that connect New Zealand companies with international opportunities. Today, she focuses on implementing the New Zealand–India Free Trade Agreement, working with government, industry, and business to turn market access opportunities into practical outcomes for exporters.
Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi
Consul General, Consulate General of India
Dr Madan Mohan Sethi is Consul General of India in Auckland. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2006, after four years working in Odisha’s state healthcare sector and training at MKCG Medical College in Berhampur. His postings since have spanned Yangon, Mandalay, Rome and Ho Chi Minh City, where he served as Consul General for four years, building trade, education and cultural ties across all twenty-nine Vietnamese provinces.
Deen Dayal Srivastava
Director of Flair for Success
Deen Dayal Srivastava is a mechanical engineer from IIT Kanpur, born and raised in Uttar Pradesh, where he did his schooling and graduation before a career that carried him across India and abroad. Over four decades, he has worked with international brands on nationwide business operations, coaching company leaders on how to read performance metrics and identify gaps, patterns and outliers within their teams. He has also delivered Hogan profiles for remedial and development coaching, helping individuals and teams clarify their goals, values and preferences so they can manage their own attitude and performance more effectively at work. His background spans corporate leadership consulting, management training, leadership facilitation and marketing, with a focus on turning analysis into measurable operational change while keeping employee safety and wellbeing central to how that change gets implemented. He builds teams capable of sustained high performance and cultivates the stakeholder relationships that keep collaboration productive. Throughout his career, he has been recognised for improving the quality of every business he has represented.
