Ron Somers
President
US-India Business Council,
Washington, D.C.
Ron Somers is the President of the US-India Business Council, established in 1975 and comprised of more than 100 of the top U.S. companies investing in India. The USIBC serves as the primary link between U.S. and Indian companies, promoting open access, free trade, and the strengthening of commercial relations between the two countries.
He serves as the Council’s CEO, establishing strategy, leading policy initiatives and advocacy efforts, and is responsible for the Council’s budgetary planning and communication with Capitol Hill, as well as with the Government of India. Ron also heads the Manhattan-India Investment Roundtable in New York, comprised of the top 20 Fortune 500 financial service institutions, banks and insurance companies investing in India.
Ron recently served as Unocal Corporation’s chief executive in India, developing commercial opportunities in India’s emerging energy market. Previously, Ron served as Managing Director for India on behalf of Cogentrix Energy, tasked with setting up a 1000 MW electric power project in the Indian state of Karnataka. Earlier, Ron served as Resident Adviser to the Government of India on the India Private Power Initiative for K&M Engineering.
A seasoned India-hand, Ron presently serves on the Board of Directors of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC), India’s first private sector oil exploration company, as well as on the Board of the United States Educational Foundation in India, which oversees the country’s Fulbright Scholarship endowment. Ron also recently served as Vice Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in India.
Ron holds an M.A. from the Bread Loaf Graduate School where he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford University, and an Honors B.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont.
Presented by the USC Marshall School of Business
in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce
