India and Czech Republic Forge Strategic Partnership for Future JVs
During their meeting at the Vibrant Gujarat summit in Ahmedabad this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Czech counterpart Petr Fiala are anticipated to launch a strategic partnership focusing on innovation. This marks the inaugural collaboration of its kind between India and a European nation, as India aims to leverage technological and innovative expertise for Industry 4.0. The partnership is expected to enhance joint ventures under the Make in India initiative between India and the Czech Republic, simultaneously providing momentum to the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement.
For decades, the Czech Republic has played a crucial role as a key partner for India, particularly in sectors such as automotive and defense. People familiar with the situation indicate that the Czech Prime Minister is heading a robust delegation focused on science and technology during the summit. The economic relations between India and the Czech Republic, dating back to the time when it was Czechoslovakia, have a longstanding history that predates India's independence. In fact, Czechoslovakia set up its consulate in Mumbai in October 1920, followed by another in Calcutta in December 1929.
The Czech policy of trade diversification outside the EU has given fresh impetus to Indo-Czech trade and economic relations. New mechanisms and diversified interaction thereafter resulted in an increase in bilateral trade to about $3.16 billion in 2022, from just $86 million in 1993, as per Czech statistics. Almost 7% of Czech investments outside Europe go to India. More than 30 Czech companies have invested in India, including škoda Auto, Doosan škoda Power, Bonatrans, Home Credit, Liko-s, Tatra trucks, Zetor and Dina-Hitex, in various sectors such as transport, energy, automotive, metallurgy and finance.
Indian enterprises have made substantial investments in various sectors within the Czech Republic, encompassing IT, electronics, telecommunications, textiles, pharmaceuticals, automotive components, and food. Notable among the Indian companies participating in these investments are Infosys, LEEL, APAG Elektronik, Varroc Lightning Systems, Pricol, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Mileta Horice, and MSSL Advanced Polymers.
Shoe company Bata, which started its operations in Batanagar (West Bengal) in the 1930s, is among the more popular Czech brands in India. While škoda is currently a well-known brand in the automotive industry, Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles were popular in the 1960s. Owing to the popularity of the brand, Mahindra and Mahindra have revived the Jawa brand, and Jawa motorcycles made in India are now being exported to the Czech Republic. During the era of communist rule, Czech companies initiated several notable industrial projects in India, covering energy, metallurgy, machine tools, and transport. By 1990, around 60 substantial projects of this nature had been established in India, and some of these Czech companies continue to be actively involved in projects within the heavy engineering sector.
The collaborative efforts in defense between the two nations gained traction with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in October 2003, leading to the establishment of a joint defense committee. To date, six committee meetings have taken place, with the most recent one held in Delhi on February 3, 2020. The Indian Embassy in Prague has reported that Czech defense companies consistently supply military equipment to the Indian armed forces.
