Italy-India Business Forum 2025
Translating Strategic Trust into Economic Action
The Italy-India Business Forum 2025, held in Mumbai on 11 December during the visit of H.E. Mr. Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, marked a decisive advance in the economic dimension of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership. More than a formal business gathering, the Forum reflected a shared resolve to convert high-level political alignment into durable economic industrial and technological cooperation.
Organised as part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s official visit the Forum brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, institutional stakeholders, unicorn founders and over 150 Indian and Italian companies. The discussions focused on priority sectors such as automotive, clean energy and waste-to-energy, agri-food, sports technologies and connectivity-areas that align with both countries’ emphasis on innovation-led growth, sustainability and resilient supply chains.
At the core of the engagement was the bilateral meeting between Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal and Hon’ble Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Antonio Tajani. Their discussions centred on expanding bilateral trade, strengthening supply chain resilience and deepening collaboration in clean mobility, green energy, advanced manufacturing and food processing. The dialogue reflected a shared understanding of the need to future-proof economic partnerships in an increasingly complex global landscape.
The Forum commenced with parallel sectoral roundtables and pitching sessions that enabled structured industry-to-industry engagement. Focused discussions on automotives, renewables, sports technologies and textiles, and agri-food facilitated the identification of joint ventures, co-development opportunities, R&D partnerships and value-chain integration models. These interactions underscored the complementary strengths of Indian scale and Italian technological excellence. Industry leaders are playing an increasingly important role in strengthening bilateral relations. In this context, earlier I interacted with several Italian business-industry leaders through bilateral meetings and parallel business discussions as part of the wider India-Italy economic engagement.
My interactions focused on
advancing technical collaborations between Indian industry and Italian
companies, particularly in infrastructure modernisation, transportation systems
and advanced manufacturing. I also held discussions on recent Indo-Italian investments
and joint ventures, underscoring the importance of leveraging Italian expertise
and state-of-the-art technologies to support India’s large-scale infrastructure
and urban development initiatives.
The defining institutional
outcome of the visit was the signing of the Agreed Minutes of the 22nd session
of the India-Italy Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC). This
milestone operationalised the deliberations of the Joint Commission and
established a clear roadmap for future collaboration, building on the elevation
of bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership during the visit of Hon’ble Italian
Prime Minister H.E. Giorgia Meloni to New Delhi in March 2023.
Several significant commercial agreements were concluded alongside the Forum, reflecting the depth and diversity of bilateral engagement. These included a strategic MoU between SIMEST and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, major green-technology steel projects awarded by SAIL to Italy’s Danieli Group, and collaborations spanning luxury design, retail expansion, joint ventures, and advanced manufacturing. Together, these agreements signal growing confidence in long-term India-Italy economic cooperation.
Hosting the Forum in Mumbai,
India’s financial capital, underscored the shared commitment to strengthening
direct business-to-business linkages and facilitating investment flows. Italy’s
position as a pivotal economic partner for India within the European Union was
further reinforced, with both sides recognising the strong complementarities
between their economies.
The Italy-India Business Forum2025 concluded on a confident and forward-looking note. It reaffirmed the collective resolve of governments, institutions, and industry leaders to translate strategic intent into measurable economic outcomes. As the India-Italy Strategic Partnership continues to mature, the Forum has set the stage for deeper economic integration, enhanced market access and sustained collaboration in innovation-driven sectors that will benefit businesses and citizens in both nations.
In the recent high-levelengagements of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Hon’bleExternal Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar with H.E. Antonio Tajani, Hon’ble
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Italy, have further strengthened
the momentum of the India-Italy partnership under the joint strategic action
plan 2025-2029. Their discussions across defence, technology, Maritime Security,
mobility, space, trade and investment reaffirm the growing alignment between
our two nations.
The views articulated by the
Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, at the
India-Italy Business Forum (11 December 2025, Mumbai) resonate strongly,
highlighting collaboration in the Electric Vehicle sector to expand market
access, generate employment and promote sustainable economic growth for both
nations.
I was privileged to have met H.E.Antonio Tajani Hon’ble Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and had an occasion to
discuss the recent acquisition by Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd. of 51%
stake in Saira Asia Interiors Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italy’s Gruppo
Industriale Tosoni (GIT) - (Tosoni Group) for high-end interiors for metros,
trains and public transport. I further sought his guidance for such technical
collaborations between the Adventz Group of Companies and Italian companies,
across multiple sectors, where massive infrastructure modernization projects
could leverage from the Italian expertise and their State-of-the-Art technologies.
I complemented the Hon’ble Deputy
PM for taking out time of his busy schedule, to participate in an innovative
event for promoting Italian taste, fashio, sports and lifestyle, graciously
hosted by H. E. Antonio Enrico Bartoli, Ambassador of Italy in India and shared
some of my ideas on this theme.
These engagements signify that India-Italy relations are entering a new phase of trust, innovation and opportunity. With strong political leadership, active industry participation and a shared vision for sustainable growth, the partnership is well placed to deliver tangible outcomes that benefit both nations and contribute meaningfully to global economic and strategic cooperation....
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