Germany intends to give India 1 billion Euros for urban development

India, which is set to see the "world's largest wave" of urbanisation in the next two decades, may receive around one billion Euros from Germany as part of its financial and technical assistance in the sector till 2022, India's ambassador to the country said here today.

German companies are very interested in investing in clean and green cities in India and are looking for partners, ambassador Mukta Dutta Tomar said.

"This is where you can bring the best of Indian business sense and German technology," she said while speaking at the Natcon 2018, the annual conference of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) here.

The apex body of real estate developers is hosting the 18th edition of Natcon in the German capital.

"Sustainable urban development was agreed as a new priority area of bilateral cooperation between India and Germany in 2016. Till 2022, Germany intends to provide financial and technical assistance in the range of 1 billion Euros," she said.

Dwelling on India's relationship with Germany, the senior envoy said, "We share friendly relations for decades and our cooperation rests on the common fundamental values of democracy, fundamental freedom and a rule-based international order".

Tomar said the mainstay of India's relationship with Germany was economic.

"It is our largest trading partner in Europe with a bilateral trade of Euro 19.15 billion in 2017. Germany is the seventh largest foreign direct investor in India. There are around 215 Indian companies operating in Germany. There are over 1,800 Indo-German collaborations and over 600 joint ventures in operation," she said.

"The Joint Working Group on Sustainable Urban Development has identified Kochi, Coimbatore and Bhubaneshwar for bilateral collaboration," she said.

The ambassador credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts over the last four years to "helping break the stereotype about India."