Italian companies ready to seize opportunities offered by India: Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister

Italy, the second industrial powerhouse in Europe, can provide a significant contribution to India’s upward trajectory, deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani said. Tajani, who is also the foreign minister, said India can benefit from Italian technologies and manufacturing expertise, especially in advanced machinery and precision agriculture. In an interview with ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, he said investments, trade, innovation, mobility as well as culture and sports will drive business and cooperation between the two countries. Edited excerpts:

You have just concluded your third visit to India during your mandate. What is your main takeaway?
More Italy in India. More India in Italy. This is the message I conveyed to the various counterparts I met, starting with Prime Minister Modi. Investments, trade, innovation, mobility. And a close political dialogue as a framework. Italy and India have a 2025-29 Joint Strategic Action Plan, which is our road map. We intend to fully implement it.


PM Modi told me he will visit Italy next year to give further momentum to our partnership. Our countries share values, affinities and interests. India is the world’s most populous democracy and the fastest-growing economy, with its 1.4 billion people and 7% annual growth, respectively. Italy, second industrial powerhouse in Europe, can provide a significant contribution to its upward trajectory. We have technologies and manufacturing expertise, from advanced machinery to precision agriculture. The launch of a joint initiative on innovation, I discussed with my counterparts, will be key to raise our economic relations to further heights. But also culture and sports can be drivers of business and cooperation. The two Olympic Associations, during my visit, signed an MoU to foster partnerships between sports federations and industries.

In Mumbai, you and minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal co-chaired a business forum, the third in a year. What is the state of play in Italy-India economic partnership?
Our economies are increasingly integrated. Bilateral trade has doubled over the past five years. Our prime minister set the goal of reaching €20 billion trade exchange by 2029. The conclusion of an ambitious EU-India free trade agreement will be crucial. More trade will mean more investments. Italian companies are ready and eager to seize the opportunities offered by India’s vast market.

In Mumbai, around 200 companies from both Italy and India attended the forum. They carried out B2B meetings, pitching sessions, field visits and productive interactions. We focused on automotive, agrifood, waste-to-energy and sports technologies. And new investments and partnerships were announced: an MoU between SIMEST and ICC, a partnership with Prada for the realisation of Kolhapuri chappals, €500 million contracts to Danieli in the steel sector, a partnership for Carpisa in India, and a joint venture on gas valves. This is the spirit. Turning contacts into contracts.

Italy already has a strong business presence in India. How do you plan to strengthen it?
More than 700 Italian companies are already operating in India. Many more are looking at a market that represents one sixth of humanity. India is a priority of the export strategy I launched this year. We have established a range of dedicated tools to encourage our companies approaching India, particularly SMEs, the backbone of our industry. A €500-million funding scheme to assist them in market access and joint ventures; more than €2 billion in guarantees for Indian buyers of Italian products, and digital platforms to connect businesses directly.

Now, we want to move forward with sector-specific business missions. We have already organised a couple, on space and fashion. Others will follow: machinery, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, defence and others. The goal is to enhance co-production and joint ventures. We hope to see increasing Indian investment in Italy too. In energy, data centres, hotels, and much more. In Mumbai, I met with several large industrial groups to encourage this direction.

India is emerging as a technological powerhouse. How will Italy engage with this development?
India is set to become a global tech leader. And the Indian government has launched a $10 billion fund for research and development in AI, quantum, biotech, advanced materials, space, and cyber. More than 100 unicorns truly make India ‘incredible’. In Mumbai, minister Goyal and I met a representative group. I invited them to attend in Rome a meeting dedicated to innovation and engage with the main Italian stakeholders. Together with the Indian government, we will work on creating a shared platform dedicated to startups.

Italy is deeply committed to increasing its innovation stance, through investments in tech domains such as supercomputers and digital. We want to create an innovation centre in India: a hub meant to foster collaboration between startups, innovative companies and research clusters. Each year, we will select specific sectors to focus on: fintech, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space, precision agriculture, and many others. We will bring our innovation stakeholders here to learn and integrate in the Indian ecosystem. Italian universities will play a crucial role in facilitating talent mobility, both ways. They already welcome and are eager to attract the best Indian researchers.

You also visited the NSE. What were your impressions?
Finance can play an important role in Italy-India relations. It can build confidence among investors and multiply business opportunities. Italy is a safe and stable market. Demand for government bonds is growing and the spread is narrowing. Recent international ratings confirm our financial reliability. As of end-2024, aggregate data from investment firms and funds investing in the Italian equity market show that almost 10,000 funds and 2,400 investment funds from 58 countries invest in Italian-listed companies. At the stock exchange, we initiated a dialogue between funds and financial stakeholders. We will convene the main Italian private equity funds to work out a strategy to strengthen the financial link of our bilateral relations.

One of the topics on the agenda of the visit was connectivity. Why is it so important?
Our goal is to connect the European market—via Trieste, the Adriatic, the Balkans and North Africa—with the Gulf and India. Essentially, to link the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific. It is crucial for the growth of our exports. The Italian government has decided to invest significantly in IMEC project. We are a natural gateway to Europe and its market. We are working on simplified, digital customs procedures and on the Blue&Raman submarine cable, a fast data highway between Genoa and Mumbai.