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Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, who arrived in India on Friday to attend the G20 summit, conducted a meeting with senior Karnataka cabinet ministers including Deputy CM DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on September 11.
He also took a walk on Church Street in Bengaluru’s Central Business District, posed for selfies, and interacted with the local crowd.
“The Netherlands and India have wide-ranging economic ties. Over 350 Dutch companies do business here. India and the Netherlands also share the same enterprising spirit and capacity for innovation. We work together in areas like agriculture and water management, and more opportunities are opening up all the time,” said Rutte in a post on X.
“This was the focus of my trip to Bangalore, in the south of India……It’s great to see how the Netherlands and India are working together in many different areas,” he said.
“Another special moment was my meeting with Bangalore’s bicycle mayor Sathya Sankaran (@bicyclemayorblr) – a job close to my heart. We discussed his sustainable vision for the city, with lots more space for cyclists and public transport,” he added.
Sankaran told Moneycontrol: “After the closed-door meetings, he wanted to experience Indian streets. He had masala tea from Chai Point on Church Street and paid for it via UPI. He cycled with me for some distance and suddenly a lot of people turned up and he spoke to everyone, took pictures. We also discussed how the Netherlands and Bengaluru can collaborate in promoting cycling.” He said the visit was planned and had arranged a bicycle for the PM.
Karnataka keen to strengthen economic ties with the Netherlands: Deputy CM
A CEO round table meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Shivakumar, and Rutte attended alongside a delegation of prominent Dutch businesses at Vidhana Soudha on September 11.
Shivakumar invited Dutch businesses to invest in Karnataka to strengthen ties and explore new avenues for growth. Rutte said his country is keen to enhance economic cooperation with Karnataka. “The Netherlands aims to provide Dutch companies operating in Karnataka with an opportunity to engage in discussions on strategic matters of mutual interest, focusing on economic growth and investment prospects.”
The meeting deliberated mainly on the investment climate, regulatory and legislative procedures, and collaborations in the areas of agriculture and horticulture, etc.
Rutte stated that Karnataka is home to 9 percent of Dutch investments in India, with a presence of over 25 Dutch companies. The state is also home to global house centres of Shell and Philips, he added.
Shivakumar said, “We share many similarities across major industries like food processing, biotech and pharma, innovation and R&D, etc. The state is eager to attract Dutch investments in sectors such as AI, technology, agriculture, renewable energy, and healthcare. Our government is ready to provide all support for industries to set up shops in areas beyond Bengaluru.”
Shivakumar told reporters that the Netherlands delegation has discussed several matters. “They also sought the implementation of a transparent and fair excise policy. A meeting would be soon held to sort out the issues about facilitating Dutch investments in the state,” he said.
Patil invites Dutch investors to KHIR city near Bengaluru airport
Inviting Dutch companies to Karnataka, MB Patil, Karnataka minister for large and medium industries, said, “We have envisioned a ‘Knowledge-Health-Innovation and Research City (KHIR City) on 1,000 acres near Bengaluru International Airport. This will be a testament to our commitment to advancing knowledge, healthcare, and innovation in Karnataka.”
Patil said the government of Karnataka looks forward to increased investments from the Netherlands across various industries like food processing, biotech, pharma, innovation, and R&D, among others. “There is also enough scope for investments in the tourism sector,” he opined.
Extending a warm invitation to participate in the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023 on November 29, Priyank Kharge, Karnataka minister for IT/BT and rural development & panchayat raj, said, “We invite the Dutch companies, renowned for their innovation and sustainability practices, to actively collaborate with the state in its journey towards becoming a global economic powerhouse and create mutual benefits for both Karnataka and the Netherlands.”
On September 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Rutte on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement said, “The two leaders discussed ways to deepen their bilateral partnership, including cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, clean energy and green hydrogen, semiconductors, cyber and digital technology, among others.”
Delegates from Dutch industries
Radovan Sikorsky, CFO, and board member of Heineken expressed that being the largest MNC investor in Karnataka for marketing and brewing of premium beer under the Kingfisher & Heineken brands, “Heineken is looking for a fair and transparent regulatory regime that promotes the growth of the beer category in the State and offers premium products to its consumers”. Peter Lochbihler, senior director of global public affairs, at Booking.com wanted to know Karnataka’s views on the Indian government’s efforts to draft a new digital India Act, to introduce amendments to the competition law and new liability on intermediary platforms across numerous sectors.
Arvind Vaishnav, head of Philips innovation campus from Philips India Limited stated that the company will be shifting the campus this year to a new campus on the upcoming IT corridor located en route to Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru. “Given this, Philips expects support from the government in ensuring the employees — around 5,000- to have easy access to BMTC’s Volvo buses to and from the Embassy business hub in Yelahanka,” he said. Besides, he sought the government’s intervention in extending industrial tariffs or a 20 percent subsidy on the power expenses to remain competitive in its operations in Bengaluru. Additionally, Philips would like help from Karnataka to facilitate the ease of GST refunds. Philips would also require support in getting hassle-free import of used healthcare equipment,” he adds.
Christiaan van de Koppel, commercial director for the Indian sub-continent, stated that KLM would be interested in hearing the vision for further developing SEZs in Karnataka.
Shell’s Chairman, representing Shell Group of Companies in India, mentioned that there are opportunities to create meaningful pathways for 2G Biofuels in India (and Karnataka in particular). He wanted to know about the support and incentives the government would extend for the same.
Maurice Geraets, Co-CEO of NXP Netherlands and country manager for NXP India, opined that there is a need to explore how the Netherlands and Karnataka can better collaborate on R&D for AI and automotive with academia and startups.
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