New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) The government on Tuesday invited Israeli companies to invest in India as the rapid growth in the country’s "demand potential" offers huge business opportunities. Addressing the India-Israel Business Forum here, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said that "demand defines the India story". “Show me any other country in the world where you can sell 250 million washing machines, maybe in the next 10-15 years, or 250 million refrigerators, television sets, or smartphones. That’s the demand potential that India has,” the Union Minister told the gathering.

Goyal highlighted that in the last decade, the government has focused on strengthening the macroeconomic fundamentals of the country with a strong emphasis on improving infrastructure to take economic prosperity to every corner of the country. India provides a huge domestic market of 1.4 billion people, he pointed out. He highlighted ‘10 Ds’ that define the India opportunity – democracy, demographic dividend, diversity, digitalisation, decarbonisation, determination, development, dependability, decisiveness and demand. Goyal emphasised on India being a dependable partner to Israel as the country is known to keep every commitment it makes. He also stressed on the demand potential of the country that has shown rapid growth and is set to increase every year.

Calling India and Israel natural allies, he noted that due to India’s large demand growth Israel has several key areas from technology to appliances to invest in. India has a strong judiciary to fall back on, the Minister noted, and said that the young demographic will provide a strong workforce for the future decades. He also highlighted the Centre’s efforts to provide public welfare over the years. Today the efforts have given rich dividends. The nation is standing on strong macroeconomic fundamentals with ability to withstand Covid, war and amidst turbulent geopolitical times, said the minister. Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat, said a mutual investment agreement between the two countries could be signed.

“We are also seeking how to help invest in infrastructure and in companies that are going to ‘Make in India’ aligned with the strategy of Prime Minister Modi. This is something that makes sense for Israeli companies,” Barkat noted. The Israeli minister said that with over 10,000 startups, Israel is among the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. “We excel in classic high-tech, agro-tech, food-tech, aqua-tech, desert-tech and climate change. We are very powerful in defence and homeland security and in advanced industries. We find those business clusters are very relevant for India,” he mentioned.

The Israeli government will develop a protocol to offer infrastructure tenders to Indian companies, Israel’s Ambassador Reuven Azar said at the Summit. In his address, Azar also proposed to sign a mutual investment agreement between the two countries as soon as next month. India received $327 million foreign direct investment (FDI) from Israel during April 2000 and September 2024.

/IANS