Czech business mission in India: trains, defense and IT talks

Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček (ANO) led a business mission of Czech companies to India this week, with the delegation visiting Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The talks covered cooperation in technologically demanding sectors, from transport and engineering to the defense and aviation industries.

What Czechia offers India

“We have a lot to offer in transport, engineering, the defense and aviation industries and modern technology,” Havlíček said. He called Bangalore “the Silicon Valley of Asia” and sees plenty of room for cooperation there with Czech firms.

In Bangalore, the minister met the management of the multinational IT company Infosys and of the engineering firm BEML, which operates in the railway, defense and aviation sectors, among others, and makes mining equipment. During the trip he also visited Gopalan Aerospace, with which the Czech engineering firm Witkowitz has signed a memorandum of cooperation.

Škoda Group bets on India

Czech companies took part in the talks as well. Škoda Group, a maker of trains and trams, discussed possible cooperation on modernizing Indian railways. “India is one of the key global markets where we want to grow. There is also great interest there in public transport solutions from Škoda Group,” said Martin Lanský, a representative of the Plzeň-based company.

According to him, India is running one of the world’s largest transport modernization programs, with massive investment planned in railways, metros, suburban services and high-speed trains. Škoda expects to expand its production base there gradually, bring in local partners and transfer part of its technology. “It is necessary: the country follows a ‘Make in India’ policy, meaning it supports domestic production. On top of that, it is logistically unrealistic or inefficient to build hundreds of trains in Europe without a corresponding base for production and then servicing right in the region,” Lanský explained.

Škoda Group already works in India with Tata AutoComp Systems, part of the Indian industrial group Tata. It is now discussing a strategic partnership with the state-owned BHEL, a maker of power and railway technology, and with BEML, a major Indian manufacturer of rail vehicles, metros and heavy machinery.

Domestic demand drives the Indian economy

According to the International Monetary Fund’s October forecast, India’s annual GDP will grow to $4.52 trillion in 2027, or roughly 98 trillion crowns. This is a nominal figure converted into dollars at current exchange rates. Japan will come right behind India with $4.47 trillion, leaving only the three largest economies ahead: the United States, China and Germany.

The fund raised its estimate of India’s growth this year by 0.6 percentage points to seven percent. The same is expected next year. Growth is supported by strong domestic demand, a developed services sector and investment in technology. “India entered this period with a very solid economic foundation,” said Krishna Srinivasan, director of the fund’s Asia and Pacific Department. In the fund’s assessment, the country also coped fairly well with external shocks, such as this year’s energy shock.

Japan’s economy is expected to grow by only 0.7 percent this year and next, and it will likely also be overtaken by the United Kingdom, whose GDP will reach $4.49 trillion, pushing Japan down to sixth place. France, with $3.65 trillion, will keep seventh.

In recent years India has become a global center for software development and business services. According to official Indian statistics, their exports in the 2024/2025 financial year, which ended in March 2025, reached a record $387.5 billion, about 8.4 trillion crowns. At the same time, the country is trying to attract new investment in electronics, automobile and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz