Kamal Nath invites German investment in India

New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) India today invited German businesses to invest in India and become a partner in its 'exciting growth story'.

During a business luncheon here with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said, ''As India continues its steady march towards becoming an industrialised nation over the next two or three decades, I invite German businesses to participate in this exciting growth story''.

Given Germany's strength in the manufacturing sector and India's own engineering eco-system, German investments in India have traditionally been in this sector, he added.

The major sectors that have attracted investments from Germany since liberalisation are electrical equipment, transportation and metallurgical industries. Together, these sectors make up more than 40 per cent of the German investment in the country.

In 2007, there have been more than 200 technical collaborations between Indian and German firms for the industrial machinery alone, Mr Nath said.

He further added that today more than 240 Indian firms are already engaged in businesses in Germany. While two-third of these companies belong to the IT-sector, the rest is spread across the textile industry, engineering industry, pharmaceuticals and automotive components.

The Minister disclosed that the bilateral trade target of 10 billion euros between the two countries, which was to be met in 2010, was achieved in 2006. But he pointed out that though Germany figures among the top ten FDI destinations in India today, yet it accounts for just 3.6 per cent of the total flows that have come into the country so far.

UNI