At the end of last year, Harish Parvathaneni was accredited by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and is now officially the new Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Indian Embassy in Berlin.
Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, he had already served as Additional Secretary for Economic Relations and Head of the Economic Diplomacy Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. However, these are just a few of the posts he has held since joining the diplomatic service (Indian Foreign Service) in 1990: in addition to professional posts in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Vietnam, the mechanical engineering graduate also served for many years as Consul General in the USA.
We are pleased to welcome Mr. Harish Parvathaneni now in Germany. In a text for AHK India, Mr. Parvathaneni gives an overview of the current German-Indian economic relations and outlines some of the most important economic policy plans for the coming years. You can find the full text below.
Dear German member companies of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce,
Greetings from the Embassy of India, Berlin!
I have assumed charge as Ambassador of India to Germany on November 06, 2021. I am happy to reach out to you. I wish you all a very happy and a healthy New Year 2022. Prior to my taking charge as the Ambassador to Germany, I served as Additional Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs and had also led the Economic Diplomacy Division that deals with bilateral economic relations of India with other countries. Please allow me to share a few observations on the current state of Indo-German economic relations and our long-standing cooperation:
1. Germany is one of our biggest bilateral partners with our strategic partnership gaining depth and strength over the years. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the EU and the seventh largest foreign investor in India. The year 2021 marked the 70th anniversary of relations between India and Germany and the 20th anniversary of the India-German strategic partnership.
2. The Indian economy is rapidly recovering from the pandemic induced downturn and is returning to its trajectory as a rapidly growing economy. It is expected to grow at 9.5% and remain the fastest growing economy at least till 2025. The GDP grew 8.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year recovering more than 100 per cent of the pre-pandemic output in the corresponding quarter of the earlier year. India is among the few countries that have recorded four consecutive quarters of growth amid Covid-19 reflecting the resilience of the Indian economy. The recovery was driven by a revival in services, full recovery in manufacturing and sustained growth in agricultural sectors. The recovery suggests kick-starting of the investment cycle, supported by efficient economic management activating the macro and micro drivers of growth. India will be among only a few economies in the world to rebound strongly from Covid-19 induced economic contraction of 2020-21.
3.Total FDI inflow during FY 2020-21 stood at US$ 81.72 billion which is the highest ever. The trade figures are also promising. India has introduced broad-based reforms in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, labour laws, small scale industry, defense industry, financial sector, foreign investment, corporate tax rates and tax administration. Digitally driven governance has brought in single window approvals, ease of compliance and transparency in regulation.
4. India intends to invest about US$ 4.5 trillion in infrastructure projects in sectors like power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health in the next five years. India is also focused on becoming a nerve center of more resilient global supply chains and a manufacturing hub. Production Linked Incentives have been announced to consolidate the “Make in India” campaign in the wake of the new economic conditions that have emerged due to the pandemic. In all these, there is a lot of potential for the German Mittelstand to enhance their investments in India and make India a manufacturing base and a hub for their R&D. I welcome German companies to take advantage of the production linked incentive scheme.
5. One of the top priorities of the new German Government is on green transition of the economy. India and Germany are both committed to addressing climate change and both countries have been at the forefront of ambitious climate action. Leading by example, India delivered on its Paris commitments and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now set out ambitious climate action goals at Glasgow – “Panchamrit”. These are
(i) taking non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030
(ii) meeting 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030 (iii) reducing total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now till 2030 (iv) reducing carbon intensity of its economy to less than 45 percent by 2030 and
(v) achieving target of Net Zero by the year 2070.
This is unprecedented for a developing country with relatively small per capita emissions. India has, therefore, committed to walk the extra mile while keeping enough policy room to navigate the nation’s economic growth on to a higher growth path with lower carbon intensity. India is now one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, particularly solar energy, as well as one of the fastest growing markets for such technologies. India is interested to work closely with Germany to promote green growth and a sustainable modernization of the economy including decarbonizing industry and transport and accelerating the implementation of the new circular economy and resource efficiency partnership.
6.Green Hydrogen is potentially the key to meeting our climate commitments. Prime Minister Modi has announced setting up of a National Hydrogen Mission, to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production. India is interested to work closely with Germany in this endeavour and map out opportunities for green hydrogen so that both countries meet our 2030 commitments.
7. I appreciate the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce for playing a major role in advancing corporate as well as cultural understanding between India and Germany for the last 65 years. Our Embassy has been running a “Make in India Mittelstand” Programme (MIIM), which is a flagship market-entry support programme run exclusively for German Mittelstand companies, which helps companies enter the Indian market or expand their presence in India. I thank IGCC for partnering with us in this programme. Our team at the Embassy of India would be happy to assist IGCC´s member companies who are interested to enter or expand their footprint in India.
I wish the IGCC the very best and hope that together, we can all take India-Germany economic engagement to the next level!
Parvathaneni Harish
Ambassador of India to Germany
Berlin, January 2022
