Press Release

19th September 2016

German SMEs meet Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)
conveying support to Investments in India

1. Under the aegis of the Make in India Mittlestand (MIIM) market entry facilitation programme run by the Embassy of India, a Roundtable Meeting for the German Mittelstand (SMEs) was organised with Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)and Mr. AtulChaturvedi, Joint Secretary, DIPP on 16thSeptember 2016 in Frankfurt.

2. Ms Soumya Gupta, Third Secretary, Embassy of India, Berlin outlined how the MIIM programme is being run by the Embassy with the support of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Investment and Technology Promotion (ITP) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. The MIIM is an investment facilitation programme to help new German Mittelstand companies toease their entry into the Indian market. The MIIM programme is already facilitating investments of over 50 German SME's.She assured the German companies of all support from the Embassy of India in facilitating their investments into India and also urged them to make full use of this mechanism.

3. Secretary, DIPP encouraged Mittelstand companies to probe opportunities in India and discussed how German SMEs could participate in the Make in India initiative.He assured his Ministry's support for facilitating investments by German Mittelstandin India. He elaborated on the significant opportunities for collaboration for the German Mittelstandin the Government's main flagship programmes. He outlined the various efforts taken by the central and state Government to ease doing business in India and on how the Goods & Service Tax (GST) is going to be major game changer in India in easing business and in attracting more FDI across sectors. He encouraged German companies to make use of the Fast Track System which has been operating in DIPP since March 2016. Infrastructure, including Railways and Smart Cities would be a major focus of the new economic engagement between India and Germany. Secretary, DIPP called on Mittlestand companies to explore the consortium approach for participating in infrastructure projects including projects rolled out under the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the 100 Smart Cities initiative of the Government of India. He was encouraging in his approach to deal with issues and assured further betterment in ease of doing business in India.

4. The Roundtable witnessed great enthusiasm with new German SME's showing keen interest in joining the MIIM initiative to Make in India. The participants expressed positive appreciation of the business environment in India. The Roundtable format encouraged discussions, especially in alleviating worries or issues that companies had earlier faced. It showed the openness and commitment of the Government of India to ensure a smoother process of investment and business promotion in India. The companies were very forthcoming and discussed with Secretary, DIPP and his delegation on their ongoing investments and future plans in India. German SMEs highlighted that the MIIM initiative was very useful in facilitating their investment into India and expressed that the program has helped in early realization of their market entry into India.They encouraged the German Mittelstand companies to make use of the MIIM initiative in their investment plans in India.

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