Columbus has added a sibling to its international family.
Mayor Jim Lienhoop formalized a sister city relationship with Pune, India, during his trip to the country with Jason Hester, president of the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. It occurred during a nearly two-week trade mission to Japan and India in October and early November.
Columbus also has sister city relationships with Löhne, Germany; Miyoshi, Japan; and Xiangyang, China. The Löhne relationship was fostered by local residents with ancestors from northern Germany and student exchanges, while business ties played into the Miyoshi and Xiangyang relationships.
Pune is far bigger that Columbus, which has a population of about 47,000 as of July 1, 2017. In comparison, Pune is a city of more than 5 million people located near the country’s west coast.
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Lienhoop indicated that despite the size difference, the cities believe both can benefit from the relationship.
Lienhoop and Hester spent parts of four days in Pune, including a Nov. 1 meeting with Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak, when the two mayors signed a memorandum of understanding.
The new, formal relationship between the two cities was reached largely from efforts by Ravi Pandi, KPIT chairman and group CEO, Lienhoop said.
KPIT is a Pune-based technology consulting and product engineering services company that has a Columbus operation and used to have a joint venture with global power company Cummins Inc., based in Columbus.
“He was really the person who worked with the mayor of Pune to help her a little bit better understand about Columbus, and the value we bring to the relationship,” Lienhoop said.
Reaching the agreement took about six months, Lienhoop said.
Columbus explored such a relationship with Pune a few years ago, thinking it made sense because Cummins has had operations there since the 1960s, but a trip to Pune wasn’t able to be scheduled, Hester said.
Lienhoop said he and Tilak discussed three things they would like to do with the relationship. They want to create spaces in each city that memorialize the sister city relationship. For example, Friendship Alley in Columbus memorializes its relationship with Miyoshi.
Lienhoop said creating such a space to memorialize the Pune relationship will likely be done within the next year.
The mayors also discussed social concerns each has for their community. Solid waste disposal is a concern in India, and it’s an area of focus for the country, Lienhoop said.
“Their thought might be that there is a way we can assist in that, in some fashion,” Lienhoop said.
“They talked about the fact that from an (information technology) perspective there might be some assistance, some source of benefit we might get,” he said.
Additionally, Lienhoop and Tilak discussed economic opportunities the relationship could produce.
“There would be a place for Pune companies (to locate), if they are interested in coming to the United States. We’ve already had some relationships established,” Lienhoop said, alluding to KPIT and AXISCADES as India-based companies with operations in Columbus.
“And, likewise, if there would be any companies here that needed an Indian representative, that we had some relationships in Pune that would already be in place,” he said.
Also, both cities want to form working groups to explore how to further establish the new relationship, Hester said.
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According to the 2011 census, Pune has a population of 5.05 million
It is the second largest city in the Indian state of Maharashtra
Pune is located near the country’s western coast
Pune is known for its institutions of education and information technology
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Cities with which Columbus has international sister city relations:
- Löhne, Germany
- Miyoshi, Japan
- Xiangyang, China
- Pune, India
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People interested in being part of the Pune, India sister-city working group in Columbus can contact Jason Hester at the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp., 812-378-7300, or by sending an email to [email protected].
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