Following a meeting via video conference on August 7, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting on Thursday, October 23, with the German Federal Minister of Economy and Energy Katherina Reiche in Berlin, where discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, technology, green energy, and skilling.
Goyal also met Dr. Levin Holle, Economic and Financial Policy Advisor at the Federal Chancellery and Germany’s G7 & G20 Sherpa, to discuss ways to deepen further the bilateral economic relationship, as well as a potential India-EU (European Union) FTA. Germany is the largest economy in Europe as well as in the 27-member EU.
Later in the day, Goyal chaired a roundtable with CEOs and leaders of German Mittelstand companies at the Indian Embassy. Goyal is scheduled to meet Xavier Bettel, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Luxembourg, as well as hold one-on-one discussions with CEOs of leading German companies, including Infineon Technologies, Schaeffler Group, Renk, Herrenknecht AG, Enertrag SE, and Mercedes-Benz Group. The minister’s engagements will continue tomorrow with a panel discussion at the Berlin Global Dialogue and further meetings with German industry associations.
As per the figures from Destatis (Federal Statistical Office), Indo-German bilateral trade touched an all-time high of $33.40 billion (+0.36% year-on-year) with exports from India at $15.09 billion (-2.20%) and imports to India from Germany at $18.31 billion (+2.58%) in calendar year 2024.
India was Germany’s 23rd largest trading partner in 2024, while Germany was India’s 8th largest trading partner in FY 2024-25. As per figures from Bundesbank, Indo-German trade in services in 2024 rose by 15% year-on-year, reaching a record $17.03 billion. India’s services exports to Germany were $10.31 billion and services imports from Germany were $6.72 billion.
Germany is the 9th largest foreign direct investor in India, with a cumulative FDI of $15.11 billion from April 2000 to March 2025. German investments in India in FY 2024-25 were worth $469 million, up from $505 million in FY 2023-24, and $547 million in FY 2022-23.
As per the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, there are more than 2000 German companies active in India, with investments mainly in transportation, electrical equipment, metallurgical industries, services sector, chemicals, construction activity, trading, and automobiles.
Recent German investments in India include an investment of €571 million by Deutsche Bank in November 2024 to strengthen its India operations and capital base, focusing on sectors like digital and infrastructure.
Schneider Electric announced a €338 million investment in February 2025 to add three new manufacturing plants in India. Carl Zeiss AG invested €334 million to open a Global Capability Center in Bengaluru focused on cloud and cybersecurity.
DHL has announced a €250 million investment by 2030 for fleet expansion, new hubs, and acquisitions in India. Siemens had allocated €100 million in May 2024 to expand its 32-factory network across infrastructure and mobility segments in India.
SAP invested €100 million to expand its largest R&D hub outside Germany in India, doubling its campus and workforce by 2027. RENK Group is investing €10 million to set up a defence production site in Tamil Nadu’s industrial corridor. Schaeffler Technologies AG invested about €200 million from 2022 to 2024 in new manufacturing capacity and e-mobility solutions.
As per the CII, there are over 200 Indian companies operating in Germany, which are involved in trading, manufacturing, R&D and innovation, and services.
Indian companies have invested in Germany mainly through Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), mostly in IT, automotive, pharma, biotech, and manufacturing, while the penetration of Indian software companies in the German market is increasing.
Major clusters of Indian companies are in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg.
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