In October, a meeting was held in Mumbai – the economic capital of India – between the Italian ambassador – Vincenzo de Luca -, the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra – Uddhav Thackeray – and with the Minister of Environment and Tourism – Aaditya Thackeray.
The key point of the meeting was to discuss the need of greater cooperation between the two countries, especially in the energy and manufacturing sector, including smart grids, gas transport and integrated waste management (waste-to-wealth).
“With Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray we agreed on the need of a stronger Italian presence, with investments in the fields of energy transition, waste for energy, textile machinery and automotive” – said Ambassador De Luca.
The goal is to invest in the field of energy transition, in a manner that support the development and dissemination of green energy sources in India. At the same time, Italy will take part in a project organized by India, to ensure that the country manages to achieve the goal of producing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
By analysing data provided by the Italian Economic Observatory, a research center that studies foreign trade, we can see that India is currently the 30th destination market of Italian exports, while Italy is the 14th market for Indian exports.
According to data provided by Reprint Data Bank, updated to 2017, there are 696 Italian companies in the country, operating specifically in the wholesale, mechanical and services sectors in support of local companies. These companies employ approximately 48.714 workers, with a total turnover of 5 billion euros.
At the meeting held in Rome on 29 October between Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, and Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the two countries formalized a strategic partnership on energy transition.
The two parties agreed on the importance of enriching their energy systems, in a cost-effective way, through the use of large amounts of renewable energy. This would increase jobs and also lead to GDP growth.
The two leaders also referred to the India- European Union Summit which took place last May in Oporto, which reaffirmed the need to face climate change dynamically, by using renewable sources.
