In his presentation on Partner Country India, Vijay Gokhale, Ambassador of India to Germany, made a strong pitch for investing in India.

"After 9 years India is back at the Hannover Messe as a Partner Country and we are really looking forward to be here this year," said Gokhale, referring to the fact that India was a Partner Country at Hannover once before, in 2006, and that occasion too had spurred many investment opportunities for German companies. "We have a new government, a new Prime Minister and a new economic programme committed to growth and creation of jobs. And the centrepiece of this programme, to 'Make in India'," he added.

"The focus is on ease of doing business, dispel the notion that while many companies are keen on coming to India it is not easy to do so. Things have changed in India now and the government is working to simplify the way business is done in India, so that in a couple of years the country moves into the ranks of the top 50 nations in ease of doing business rankings, and this is what we are going to show the participating companies at Hannover this year," said Gokhale in course of his presentation.

The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make India a hub of the manufacturing sector in southern Asia - from automobiles to agriculture; hardware to software; satellites to submarines; houses to smart cities, and much else, as the poster displayed just outside the venue highlighted.

The Ambassador also dwelt upon the proposed industrial corridors and how these are at the core of the new Make in India programme. The US $ 90 bn Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project is aimed at creating industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation with active help and support of the Japanese government, and four others are being conceptualised, and the PM and his team hopes that this is where the new economic growth is going to take place, he explained. Consultancy firm KPMG has listed DMIC among the world's 100 most innovative and inspiring infrastructure projects.

Three major sectors, core sectors for the German economy - Insurance, Railways and Defence - have seen substantial relaxation in the FDI and that will be showcased as well. As far as automobiles and auto components is concerned, German companies, including all top automobile manufacturers are already present in India. In aviation - not just manufacturing but also maintenance services, India is looking for core technology from German companies. Defence is another sector - India is the largest buyer of defence equipment and the FDI limit here has been raised from 26 to 49%. Railways and transportation; electrical machines and electronics systems, chemicals industry, among others are the ones that have tremendous potential for technology transfer and offer maximum business opportunities for global companies.