By Sitaram Mewati
The All India Association of Industries, in association with the World Trade Center Mumbai, hosted a high-level interaction with a business delegation from the Australia India Business Council, reaffirming the growing momentum in India–Australia economic relations. The interaction focused on expanding bilateral trade, strengthening investment collaboration, and promoting sectoral partnerships in emerging areas such as critical minerals, green energy, education, artificial intelligence, and advanced technologies.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Deepak Raj Gupta OAM, National Chair of the Australia India Business Council, said the council continues to place strong emphasis on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of both the Indian and Australian economies. He said the 20-member business delegation represented diverse sectors including education, artificial intelligence, law, sports, logistics, technology, and finance, highlighting the wide range of opportunities emerging along the India–Australia business corridor.
Mr. Gupta said collaboration in critical minerals, education, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, sports, skill-bridging initiatives, and human capital development would be key to achieving sustainable growth. He added that strengthening technology partnerships, alongside people-to-people engagement, would play a vital role in building long-term economic cooperation between the two countries.
Highlighting the role of the Australia India Business Council, Mr. Gupta said the organisation is currently in its 48th year of advancing bilateral trade and investment cooperation. He noted that the council has chapters across six Australian state capitals and a growing presence in India, where it continues to focus on policy advocacy, market awareness, and facilitating meaningful business-to-business engagement.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President of the All India Association of Industries and Chairman of the World Trade Center Mumbai, said India and Australia are two large economies with immense untapped potential. He said that with bilateral trade crossing USD 50 billion, there is a strong opportunity to scale it up to USD 100 billion over the next five years. He highlighted that the India–Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement has opened significant opportunities for Indian exporters through near zero-duty market access.
Dr. Kalantri also pointed to considerable scope for cooperation in the blue economy, maritime services, mining and critical minerals, particularly lithium, as well as education, hydrogen, and green energy. Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman of the World Trade Center Mumbai, delivered the vote of thanks and expressed confidence that the interaction would further strengthen bilateral engagement. The meeting concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the World Trade Center Mumbai and the Australia India Business Council to promote deeper trade and investment collaboration.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
