European auto firms are exploring manufacturing opportunities in India: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said many European auto firms are exploring manufacturing opportunities in India while noting that several European companies are keen to invest in the country according to news agency PTIGoyal who is on an official visit to Germany said many companies from the European country are interested in investing in sectors such as healthcare pharmaceuticals and research and development in IndiaFirms keen to invest in IndiaWith all the regulatory overhang that they EU are creating upon themselves European manufacturing will have to look for trusted partner countries where at least many of the things that are becoming very expensive in Europe can be produced So I see tremendous potential for India and huge job creation in India he saidHe added that European firms are also exploring investment opportunities in sectors such as precision engineering aerospace defence shipbuilding and ship repairingMany automobile companies from here are also looking at manufacturing in India he saidSeveral European automobile manufacturers have established manufacturing facilities in India to cater to both domestic and international needs German carmakers such as Volkswagen MercedesBenz BMW and Audi and Czech automaker Skoda have operations in IndiaWe export about one million cars from India soon you will see cars made in India will start coming into Europe so I think in hightech sectors Indias entry is increasing GoyalThe minister said that German companies have discussed substantial investments in India during his bilateral meetings with themGoyal without disclosing the name said a company with a turnover of about 4 billion Euros in India is planning to go to 10 billion EurosGerman companies had announced investments of USD 74 billion in India in the last two and a half years according to Ambassador of India to Germany Ajit GupteOver 2000 German companies currently operate in India according to PTI Germany is the tenth largest investor in India and the inflows reached USD 495 million in FY26 Between April 2000 and June 2026 India attracted USD 1584 billion foreign direct investments FDI from GermanyIndiaEU free trade agreementThe IndiaEuropean Union EU free trade agreement is expected to be signed by the end of this year and may come into force in the first quarter of 2027 and the minister said the pact would boost trade and investments and will further ease the movement of goods and servicesA free trade agreement is not just about reducing import duty rates or preferential duty rates or offering market access its a symbol of certainty continuity and predictability Its the confidence that supply chains will be open he saidIts the confidence that this set of countries will have good friendly relations and therefore if you have seen usually when imports increase investments happen When imports of a certain product increase it shows that there is a demand in the country and thats when the investors will want to invest when they see the demand he addedTerming the FTA as a comprehensive partnership for the future he said the Indian scale and European technology together would make an unbeatable combinationIn the backdrop of the uncertainty in the global economy I think trusted partnerships will define the future Diversified supply chains and predictable trading relationships are important Goyal saidReducing red tapismThe minister informed that the government is taking a series of measures such as decriminalising a number of minor offences and removing or easing about 40000 compliance burdens to cut down red tape in IndiaSo this is a government which is an action to support ease of doing business and we recognise that we have inherited a lot of red tapism and our effort is that from every meeting we take back what is the issue or what we can do to make the investment process faster and better And from that we do a root cause analysis and out of that root cause analysis we do a systemic change to support industry he saidCBAM regulationOn the EUs Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism CBAM regulation the minister said the bloc and India had reached an amicable settlement on the issueThe minister on Thursday had warned the bloc about inviting a disaster by imposing a carbon tax on its steel products and he said What I was talking about is the larger European future The question was not about India or the impact of CBAM on India we will be okay We ourselves are decarbonising our economy so fast that we will in fact have an advantage because our competitors will suffer the cost of CBAMGoyal stated that India would help industries exporting to Europe speed up their decarbonisation efforts while Europe would support Indian industries to decarbonise fasterSo we have a very robust arrangement with them he saidJob opportunities in GermanyHighlighting the huge job opportunity for Indians in Germany the minister said Indian students aspiring to work in Germany should learn the local language and familiarise themselves with the cultureHuge opportunities are here for our talented youth trained technical manpower caregivers and nurses Theyre asking us to send people to Germany and are actually keen that some of the universities some of the ITIs should run programmes on German language and culture training so that when the person comes they are ready to work he saidWith inputs from PTI