GOTHENBURG/NEW DELHI: Asserting that India’s “reform express” is going at full speed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked Swedish companies to enhance their presence in manufacturing, green hydrogen mission, clean energy and other sectors.
Wooing European companies, Modi highlighted the potential in five broad areas, including telecom and digital infrastructure, and said they can help in making India a global research and development hub.
Electronics, deep tech manufacturing, AI, green energy, infrastructure, mobility, urban transformation, healthcare and life science are among the other areas where the prime minister sought collaboration.
On an official visit to Sweden, Modi, addressing the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), stressed that there are opportunities for all companies and assured that various steps, including an institutional system, can be put in place for them to be part of India’s flagship projects in the coming years.
The next wave of technology innovation should be co-created in India, he noted.
“In the last 12 years, India has been working on the basic mantra of reforms, performance, and transformation. And with the government’s political will, this Reform Express is moving forward at full speed,” Modi said at the roundtable as he mentioned the country’s young population, expanding middle class and infrastructure development.
Emphasising that India and Sweden are connected by the shared values of democracy, transparency, innovation and sustainability, Modi called for combining Sweden’s strengths in innovation and sustainability with India’s scale, talent and growth momentum.
Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, senior European industry leaders, and representatives from leading European and Indian companies also participated in the roundtable hosted by the Volvo Group.
In his address, Modi welcomed the growing momentum in India-EU relations, including the successful conclusion of negotiations of the landmark India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
He described the agreement as a transformative economic partnership that would create new opportunities in trade, technology, manufacturing, services and resilient supply chains.
“We have set an ambitious and strategic agenda at the level of governments… As Ursula von der Leyen had said, this is the mother of all deals. We are trying to implement this as soon as possible,” he said.
In January, India and the EU concluded the FTA.
He also noted that connectivity projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) add new value to the India-Europe business partnership.
Modi underlined that India today represents one of the world’s most attractive destinations for investment, innovation and manufacturing.
He highlighted India’s rapid economic growth, next-generation economic reforms, ease of doing business, focus on governance, expanding digital public infrastructure, vibrant manufacturing ecosystem, and rapidly transforming infrastructure sector.
Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s vision of “Design for India, Make in India and Export from India” and invited European companies to deepen their engagement with India as a trusted and reliable economic partner.
He also underlined the importance of talent mobility, education and skill partnerships between India and Europe. He highlighted India’s young and skilled workforce as a major strength for future global economic growth and emphasised the need to deepen people-to-people ties and innovation partnerships.
The prime minister suggested holding the India-Europe CEOs Round-table annually and also creating an India Desk at ERT.
Source: Business Standard / Millennium Post
