1 United States

India and America have had strong business relations over the many years and several American companies are fulfilling the indispensable needs of the Indian market. From searching online through Google to drinking Coca Cola, or using the latest I-phones by Apple, the Indian consumer is, by and large, a dedicated follower of American companies. American companies are preparing to set up an alternative to China by investing in India.¹ Some renowned American companies are Amazon, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Ford India, Google, American Express, Pepsico, Hewlett Packard, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Cognizant, Oracle.

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2 Japan

Holding the baton in automobiles and electronics sector, Japanese companies were amongst the 1^st ones to enter India. An incredible 1,305 Japanese companies are registered in India. Japan and India share strong ties, as India seeks Japanese expertise in sectors such as infrastructure, energy and manufacturing. India-Japan Cooperation Act East Forum, established in 2017 has been a driving force to advance India-Japan cooperation.¹ Japanese companies have a huge opportunity in India and since years Japan is dominating the Indian market through brands like Suzuki, Honda, Sony and Panasonic etc. Japan proposes to triple infrastructure orders to about US$300 bn by 2020.² A few big Japanese companies are Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Canon, Toyota, Yamaha, Panasonic, Honda, Sony, Suzuki.

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3 United Arab Emirates

India has strong bilateral ties in the middle east, especially with the United Arab Emirates. Cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) equity flows from UAE into India reached US$898 mn in 2018-2019.¹ In a recent development, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) announced its decision to invest US$ 1 bn in the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund, India’s attempt to raise equity funds for the infrastructure sector. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) intends to use India as a food security base and plans to invest in its agriculture sector. More specifically, the UAE plans to increase its imports of Indian food grains and horticulture products. UAE has already launched talks with various state governments for this purpose. Some key companies functioning in India include Emaar, DP World, Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, Drake and Scull International.

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4 Germany

Indo-German trade story dates back to the 16th century when the German companies started manufacturing in India. Some notable names are Krupp AG & Demag, who set-up the Rourkela Steel plant, while, Bosch set-up its 1^st unit to make spark plugs in 1953, followed by Siemens, Bayer, Daimler-Benz, etc. India has more than 1,600 German companies and over 600 Indo-German joint ventures in operation which include big names like, BMW, Volkswagen, SAP, Siemens AG, and Merck. FDI from Germany has increased more than 41% from 2013-14 and has reached a cumulative amount of US$ 4.50 bn till 2017-18.¹ Government of India is seeking investments from German companies in areas including smart cities and construction of airports to increase economic cooperation between themselves.²

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5 France

The year 2018 has marked the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership between India and France. The key deliverables are: ¹

• Increase trade in goods to US$ 16.7 bn by 2022. To encourage SMEs and mid-cap companies, to play a growing role in the economic and commercial exchanges between the two countries
• Promote Make-in-India initiative for Indian and French defence enterprises to enter into arrangements for co-development and co-production of defence equipment in India. Scorpene submarine; Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and SAFRAN discussions; Rafale are some prospects being aggressively considered
• The countries have witnessed exemplary cooperation programme in the Smart Cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur, and Puducherry. The signing of the loan agreement between the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) and the Government of India for US$ 112 mn in support of the Smart Cities Mission is another achievement
• France has committed US$ 785 mn to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a treaty-based organization, launched by Indian Prime Minister in 2015, aims to promote solar energy in 121 countries.²

Sources 1, 2