The Peninsula, Qatar

India bags $1.3 bn deals at Hanover trade fair

30/4/2006
 

Hanover: The Hanover Trade Fair, the world’s biggest industrial and technology show, generated business worth around $1.3bn for India, which was the partner country this year.

“India is very satisfied with the participation here, which has helped to project the country’s strength not only in the services sector (IT) but also its capabilities and skills in manufacturing and industrial processes,” Indian ambassador Meera Shankar said at the wrap-up press interaction.

Marking an impressive show as partner country after 22 years, Shankar said the total business generated at the Hanover Messe 2006 was $1.3bn, including concluded and potential deals.

These included Kingfisher Airlines’ $1bn contract with Airbus Industries, a memorandum of understanding between German national railway Deutsche Bahn and the Indian Railways and another between Force Motors (formerly Bajaj Tempo) and MAN Nutzfahrzeuge.

Several joint initiatives were also announced including the setting up of a bilateral Indo-German Energy Forum. The participation, coordinated by the Confederation of Indian Industry, was the largest by a partner country with 320 small, medium and large firms taking part.

A high point of the Indian participation was the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and their interaction with business representatives attending the fair to seek larger investment in infrastructure sectors.

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