BERLIN: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Thursday set an ambitious target of increasing bilateral trade with Germany tenfold to 310 billion euros, urging businesses to forge partnerships ahead of implementation of the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA).At the inauguration of the India Centre and Indo-German Business Forum in Berlin, Goyal said the FTA could be signed by Dec and implemented within four to five months. “We had 31.5 billion euros (in 2025) and (if) we were to be able to add a zero to that, make it 310 billion euros. How would that sound? Now, we can certainly make that happen,” he said, emphasising the need to draw up concrete plans to realise the ambition.Goyal is on a visit to Germany and the Netherlands from Oct 22 to 27, leading a delegation of around 100 Indian businesses and startups to explore opportunities in trade, investment and industrial cooperation. The minister said Germany’s precision engineering and commitment to quality complemented India’s infrastructure expansion, digital capabilities and young, skilled workforce, creating scope for collaboration in manufacturing, technology and supply chains. He said the two countries had little to compete with each other and could together strengthen supply chain resilience and have a transformational impact on each other’s economies.He asked businesses to start identifying customers and investors, exploring partnerships and aligning product quality and pricing with market requirements rather than wait for the FTA to come into effect. “This is the time partnerships need to be forged. This is the time connects need to be made with potential customers, collaborators, investors,” Goyal said, adding that companies must prepare to “trade, invest smarter, faster and get the best out of this agreement”.Negotiations for the India-EU FTA concluded in Jan this year following talks between PM Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Goyal said the agreement had received unanimous support from all 27 EU member states and expressed confidence that the remaining process would move rapidly. India-EU trade stood at 118 billion euros in 2025.Goyal outlined priorities for India and Germany, including strengthening economic security, creating industrial opportunities through the green transition and advancing emerging technologies. He called for closer cooperation in apprenticeships and skilling, areas in which Germany has considerable expertise.Germany’s minister for economic affairs and energy, Katherina Reiche, said bilateral trade remained below potential, with India not featuring among Germany’s top 20 trading partners despite goods trade worth around 31 billion euros in 2025.“We could at least double the trade amount we have right now,” she said, calling for greater investment and industrial partnerships. Reiche said German companies had an investment stock of over 28 billion euros in India and that the proposed German-Indian CEO forum was expected to bring business leaders together and encourage fresh investments.Speaking at Berlin Global Dialogue, Goyal said the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could hurt European industries. “If you put a CBAM on yourself and put a 50% import duty to bring steel into your country, you are inviting disaster. Your cost of living will go up, your people will be unhappy, your industry will be outpriced.”
