He will pay his respects to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks while in India's financial centre.

Mr Obama will also meet with local business leaders and American executives. US officials say they expect major contracts to be announced.

Mr Obama's 10-day tour also takes in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

It comes in the wake of the Democrats' heavy losses in the US mid-term elections, widely seen in part as punishment for the Obama administration's inability to drive down a stubbornly high unemployment rate.

The president's plane, Air Force One, touched down in Mumbai at about midday (0700 GMT) after a 15-hour flight from Washington.

Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, were taken by helicopter to the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where they will be the most high-profile guests since the 2008 attacks by Islamist militants that claimed 166 lives.

The couple paid their respects at a memorial in the hotel to victims of the attacks.