10 Israeli companies are making presentations at an exhibition that opened today at the New Delhi exhibition grounds. The companies' technologies are in water improvement, smart city management, and environmentally friendly construction.
Barak Granot, head of the Economic and Trade Department of the Israeli embassy in India, said, "India has a huge appetite for Israeli smart city technologies. Many companies from all over the world that are active in this sector are eager to do business in the Indian market, but the Indian authorities prefer Israeli innovation in this market."
Granot told "Globes" that the authorities in India are preparing to invest tens of billions of dollars annually in smart cities in preparation for the expected migration of 300 million people from rural areas to cities over the coming decade. He says, "The Indian government is leading a plan for 107 smart cities all over the country, and we hope that Israeli companies will have many opportunities in this sphere. Over the past two years, we have seen a positive change for Israeli companies operating in India, and a warming of relations between the two countries is evident." In an additional expression of the good these good relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Israel this summer.
Six weeks ago, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) signed a $2 billion deal to supply Barak 8 defensive missile systems to the Indian land forces, the largest-ever deal in the history of the Israeli defense industries. Late last week, Israeli businessman Samy Katsav inaugurated a plant for producing light arms in India in cooperation with local company Punj Lloyd for the purpose of jointly competing in tenders in the country in the coming years. The tenders are expected to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. "For the Israeli companies, participation in the New Delhi smart city exhibition could give them a foothold in this enormous market. There is no doubt that civilian Israeli companies can succeed in the Indian market, just as the defense industries are signing very substantial deals there," Granot declared. "In the past two years, corresponding directly to the policy of Prime Minister Modi, it is evident that authorities in India are easing up substantially on bureaucracy, removing barriers, significantly shortening procedures, and upgrading the business environment in the country."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 11, 2017
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