German Firms Seek Indian Ties to Boost Manufacturing Growth

• German firms seek Indian partners for future tech collaboration.
• The Indo-German Chamber fosters collaborations in tech and manufacturing.
• India is becoming a hub for R&D innovation.

With India poised to emerge as the fourth-largest economy in the current fiscal year, a growing number of German firms have intensified their search for Indian partners to deliver future technologies in manufacturing.

German corporations are seeking local partners to assist Indian enterprises in expanding their output in many sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and green energy.

"India is an important market; it's a growing market and has a huge amount of talent, and we are looking for talent because we are developing new technologies. We are the experts in the production field, and we are developing from the first sketch until the start of production. What we are doing here is we have invited our potential customers to this place (India)," said Rainer Wittich, CEO of EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG.

In order to ease manufacturing, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Indian branch of the Germany-based EDAG Group, arranged an event to investigate potential collaborations with up-and-coming local firms and talent.

Also read: Manufacturing Momentum: Fuelling India’s Third-Economy Leap

In response to the topic of why German businesses are becoming more interested in India, Stefan Halusa, Director General at Indo-German Chamber of Commerce stated that three things are drawing German businesses to the country: local markets and economic growth, scale, and capabilities.

"The first (factor) is the local market. The Indian economy is growing and it will continue to grow over the next couple of years. So if you look at growth around the world, India is one of the first and most important countries to look at. The second is scale. You look at India for export as well, to invest here also for exporting your goods and services, and the third one is the capabilities," he added.

Halusa added on to say that another important reason why German businesses are becoming more interested in India is that it has developed into a center for research and development (R&D).

With Indian exports totaling USD 9.83 billion in 2023–2024, the two nations' commerce has reached USD 26.10 billion. The value of German imports to India in FY24 was USD 16.27. India's tenth-largest trading partner in terms of exports from April to October 2024 is Germany.