CHICAGO: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich indicated here that he planned visiting India early next year or thereabout for cementing relationship between the burgeoning Indian economy and Illinois.Blagojevich was a guest speaker at the dinner reception hosted by tow prominent Indian Americans - Niranjan Shah and Pralhad Patil- in honor of visiting Chief Minister of Indian state of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Dehmukh, at Gaylord India restaurant in Chicago Downtown. Blagojevich said that Illinois is a premier manufacturing State of the USA and so is Maharashtra in India and that a closer relationship between these two regions would not only give an economic boost to the people of both the States but also further Indo-US relations.

He paid tribute to the leadership of Vilasrao Deshmukh in that he was able to sustain an economic growth over seven per cent a year for the past decade or so.Maharashtra Chief Minister Deshmukh in his response welcomed Rod Blagojevich's plan to visit India and more particularly Maharashtra to have a first hand feel of the economic opportunities presented by the country and his State. He dwelt on the fact that Mumbai, which is Maharashtra's capital, as also the commercial capital of India, accounts for a large portion of the national production of goods and services. He referred to the Bollywood presence and said that it has stolen a march over

Hollywood in matter of film production.Earlier Niranjan Shah introduced Rod Blagojevich to the 150 plus members of the audience and said in jest that he is "the first Indian American governor "in the light of the fact that he is utmost friendly to India and Indian Americans. He was among first to join India Caucus in the Congress and had always supported India at the Federal level. Now that he is the Governor of an important state of USA, "we can surely expect closer links between India and Illinois as also between Maharashtra and Illinois.

"Pralhad Patil welcomed Vilasrao Deshmukh as well as others guests, including Rod Blagojevich and Congresswoman Melissa Bean. He pitched for economic investment in Maharashtra and India. Incidentally, Patil and Deshmukh were classmates at college in India. Congresswoman Melissa Bean also extended welcome to Deshmukh and offered all possible help for forging closer ties between Maharashtra and USA.The Federation of Indian Associations and Maharashtra Mandal presented plaques of welcome and appreciation to Vilasrao Deshmukh.

FIA was represented by Iftekhar Shareef and Prahlad Patil while Maharashtra Mandal was represented again by Pralhad Patil and Amresh Deshpande.Maharashtra Mandal also hosted a reception for the visiting dignitary Vilasrao Deshmukh at Pralhad Patil's residence in Schaumburg next day and it was attended by most of the members and office bearers of the Mandal. Deshmukh again pitched for investing in Maharashtra and briefed members of the audience about his trip to USA.

He had visited New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle and pointed out that the response everywhere was overwhelming. Vilasrao was presented with shawl, a traditional way of honoring dignitaries the Indian way and his wife Vaishalitai was given memento by Maharashtra Mandal.