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“Make in India is not about protectionism but a programme that gives incentives to foreign companies to easily invest in India and makes greenfield projects easier to establish and is profitable”, said Italian Trade Commissioner Francesco Pensabene.
While ‘Make in India’ does not represent protectionsim, “there are some duties and tariff that do not incentivise other sectors to better establish in the country. These penalise companies that can do better in food, machinery and automotive,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is pushing Italian companies to invest in India. “It is a big incentive for foreign companies,” he told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the India International Leather Fair 2019 (ILLF) held last week.
The government’s target is to strengthen industrial platform and allow industries to be highly technology-oriented through Foreign Direct Investment.
Trade talks
Industrial and commercial trade between Italy and India is increasing and performing well. Italy is attaching the greatest importance to India because “we are really working to become much stronger partners. Partnership is the key to strengthen our bilateral relationships,” he said.
Trade exchange between the two countries in 2017 was €9 billion with Italy’s export at €3.6 billion, which is sustained 2018 with trade exchange of nearly €8.10 billion in the first eight months. “We will finish the year with 13 per cent increase in bilateral trade,” he said. The backbone of Italy’s exports to India is machinery, which constitutes about 41 per cent of exports, he said. He added that Italy is the 17th largest investor in India.
After China, Italy is the second largest exporter of leather goods, including machinery, to India. At the ILLF, there were 40 Italian companies representing all segments, including machinery and finished products, in the leather industry. “We occupied the largest space (for a country) within the fair this year and have been participating for over a decade now,” he said.
Some sectors where Italian companies can participate are fashion, design, furniture, food, food processing, metal and marble. “In many of the sectors, we are the first or second in machinery supply,” he said.
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