Modi, Angela Merkel to focus on Make in India, R&D

Bengaluru: Make in India, clean energy and ease of doing business will be the highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bengaluru along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Their visit will stress the close relations between India and Germany, with special regard to R&D and manufacturing. 

 

“Bengaluru is the place in India where you cannot only see the ‘Make in India’ by German companies, but also top-notch R&D by companies, like SAP, Bosch, Siemens and Mercedes Benz. Chancellor Merkel will experience firsthand Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things in the making in Bengaluru,” said Jorn Rohde, Consul General of Germany in Bengaluru. 

 

Mr Modi and Ms Merkel will begin with a trip to the Bosch Innnovation Centre and the vocational training centre in Adugodi. After that, they will head to the Business Forum organised by Nasscom in collaboration with the German Fraunhofer Institute, where both of them will be speaking.

 

Ms Merkel's last visit to India a year ago emphasised the strong Indo-German ties. Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe and the second largest partner in terms of technology collaborations. Bilateral trade between the two nations in 2014 was around 16 billion euros. This year, Mr Modi and Ms Merkel will look at the potential for collaboration in sectors like IT, ITES, biotechnology, auto components, renewable energy and even entertainment industry. 

 

Germany is looking to expand the presence of its industries in India, while the latter is hoping to have German companies participate in the Make in India campaign.