Also on the agenda is a trip to Wai, a small, poor community where a new high school and a facility for disabled students will be dedicated Nov. 2. Huntsman said he has special ties to India after he and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted a year-old girl from that country last December whom they named Asha Bharati.

"I'm thoroughly culturally invested in helping the people of India now that I have a familial tie that is very deep and very meaningful," the governor said.

This isn't the first such trip Huntsman has headed since taking office in 2005. He has led similar trade missions to Mexico, China and Canada that focused on meeting key leaders, including former Mexican President Vicente Fox, who later came to Utah and addressed the Legislature. Huntsman isn't the first governor to venture into India. In recent weeks, both California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Minnesota's Gov. Tim Pawlenty have lead trade missions to India, Huntsman said.

The higher education institutions and businesses are responsible for their own costs on the trade mission. Huntsman said he is personally picking up his own tab, as he has done on past trade missions. Participants are scheduled to return to Utah on Nov. 4.

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