Germany to finance strategic infrastructure project in India

The German Cabinet is set to finance long term strategic projects in India particularly in the railway, infrastructure and smart cities sectors, a top official said here.

According to an official statement issued by the Indian embassy in Berlin, the remarks were made by Matthias Machnig, State Secretary of Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy in a meeting here on Monday with a visiting Indian CEO delegation led by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"Germany is ready to support India's growth story and become part of the country's DNA in key long term strategic projects," Machnig said.

The German government has set up a special unit in the Economics Ministry to implement the Cabinet's move, the statement said.

In the meeting, German Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that Berlin was committed to work with New Delhi for mutual benefit.

The CII delegation was led by Shobana Kameneni, CII President Designate and Vice Chairperson Apollo Hospitals Ltd. This was the largest CII delegation to visit Germany since India's Participation in the 2015 Hannover Messe where India was a partner country.

The 10 member delegation also included Salil Singhal (PI Industries Ltd), Rajiv Modi (Cadila), Sanjay Kapur(Sona koyo Steering Systems), Prabhakar Atla (Cyient Ltc), Mohan Murti (Reliance Industries), Mukul Dhyani (Wipro) and Rajesh Menon from CII.

They also participated in a roundtable meeting with German CEOs led by Federation of German Industry (BDI) President Dieter Kempf.

CII and BDI would be jointly working on a program, to intensify their engagements in key areas including skill development, the statement said.

The Indian delegation also interacted with a number of German industry leaders from German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV).

The CII and The Economic Council (Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V.) also on Monday, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen economic and trade ties between India and Germany during an event held at the Embassy of India, Berlin.

The MoU will help in jointly promoting Indo-German Business by means of frequent exchange visits for business cooperation; facilitating investment and business development; and jointly organising road shows in both countries for promotion of investment opportunities, the statement added.

--IANS

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