Berlin, Oct 24 German companies are increasingly viewing India as a strategic hub for manufacturing, research and development, and innovation alongside its role as a key consumer market, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.
Addressing the media after concluding his two-day visit here, the minister said he held a series of bilateral meetings with representatives from companies including Siemens Healthcare, Bertelsmann Investment, Volkswagen and Skoda.
“The CEOs echoed one message – German companies no longer see India only as a market, but as their partner, as a base for manufacturing, for research and development, for innovation,” he said.
German precision and research, combined with India’s skill and talent to innovate and manufacture for the future, and investing in the India growth story, will change the global perspective and outlook toward India, he said.
About 2,000 German firms currently have operations in India. The minister was here to discuss ways to boost trade and investments between the two countries.
He added that relations between the two countries open doors not just for trade in goods and services, but also open the door for talent, innovation, co-creating, co-designing, co-developing, and co-manufacturing.
“The focus of this visit has been to translate this partnership to greater levels of investment, industrial cooperation, and research and development,” he said, adding that the success of the India-EU free trade agreement in the years to come will be measured by new business, new orders, greater investments, and technology partnerships.
The India-European Union trade pact would be signed by the end of this year and may be implemented next year. In January, the two sides concluded negotiations for the agreement.
“Today the greatest imperative before German industry is to cut costs and become more competitive in global markets. Therefore, they are looking at manufacturing in a much greater degree in India. As regards their innovation and their design work, almost every company tells me about existing centers, GCCs, in a big way in India, where they employ lakhs of talented young boys and girls,” he said.
He said, India’s over 2,100 global capability centres (GCCs) employ millions of people, with individual centres ranging from a few hundred employees to several lakh. He added that German companies are planning significant expansions, with most aiming to double or triple their operations over the next two to five years.
“That is the level of excitement about working in India… Gradually, this is obviously going to result in co-creation and co-innovation also. But I would like to go step by step. And I’d like to invite the German Institutes of Research and to come there and start working and take the next step forward for developing this partnership,” he said.
India-EU FTA & CBAM:
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Goyal said the European Union appreciates India’s efforts to address climate change and its progress in meeting its commitments under the Paris Agreement, including exceeding its intended nationally determined contributions ahead of schedule.
He added that European countries want to partner with India in areas such as green hydrogen, financial assistance and its green initiatives.
Referring to his remarks on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on Thursday here at the Berlin Global Dialogue, he maintained that what he said a day earlier was completely factual.
However, he added that in the current context, Europe was ahead of many other countries on environmental issues and its partnership with India in this area was also progressing rapidly.
The minister has said that the EU is inviting “disaster” by imposing CBAM. “Who’s responsible for this (climate change) mess in the first place? Where did this ozone layer get damaged? Who sent all that carbon up there?” he asked.
To this, a fellow panellist at the Dialogue said, “All of us”. To this, Goyal said: “No, I’m sorry”. He added, India supports 17 per cent of the world’s population, and the country’s contribution in global carbon emission is less than 3 per cent.
Goyal, during the talks, mentioned the 2015 Paris Agreement: “It was agreed that the developed countries, who have enjoyed the fruits of messing up the climate for so many decades, will pay a greater price and will support the developing and less developed countries. Eleven years later, we haven’t seen a nickel or a dime of that. It’s all promises”.
He added that European countries caused the problem.
“For good reasons… you were growing, you wanted low cost of energy. You blew coal day in and day out so that your energy cost remains low,” he said.
Goyal emphasised that India has one of the fastest-growing clean energy programmes.
Participation in global fairs:
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When asked about the commerce ministry’s plan to write to Indian Missions abroad about preparing a list of global fairs and exhibitions, Goyal said he would talk to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and together “we will reach out to all the missions so that we can create a buzz globally of the India story, the India strength”.
Goyal said India is strengthening its presence at major international startup and technology events, with a large delegation expected to attend Finland’s Slush programme and a strong Indian pavilion planned at a startup event in France.
He cited India’s participation in Bharat Innovates 2026 in France and VivaTech, where it had the largest country representation.
(PTI News)
