About Us Bilateral trade and investment

Brief on India-Netherlands Bilateral Trade and Investment

(I) Introduction

Indo-Dutch business relations date back to more than 400 years. In 1604, the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, the VOC) began trading in India, becoming the first European firm to operate in India (though Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India, the Portuguese trade with India had been a crown monopoly). The VOC first concentrated on the Coromandel Coast of South-East India, an important textile-producing region. The VOC initially built a factory in 1610 and then a fort called Geldria in 1615 at Paliacatte/Paliakate/Pallaicatta (modern Pulicat).  In the fortress, the Dutch bought cotton clothing from Indian traders, which they exchanged for spices in Indonesia. The first VOC mint in India was established in Fort Geldria in 1615 where ‘Kas’ Copper coins with VOC monogram and a Sanskrit legend were minted. The VOC later held settlements at Masulipatnam, Tuticorin, Negapatnam, Malabar Coast, Konkan, Surat, Bengal, etc in India. The VOC flourished in India till it ceded ground to the British East India Company in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The diplomatic relations between India and the Netherlands were established in 1947. Economic and commercial ties between India and the Netherlands are an important facet of the overall Indo-Dutch relations. India’s economic interests in the Netherlands include technical cooperation as a partner in key areas such as water management, agriculture and food processing, health, environment, transport and logistics infrastructure, services sector, and science and technology.

(II) Bilateral Trade

The Netherlands is India’s 11th largest merchandise trading partner in the world and the largest in the European Union during F.Y. 2023-24. During the F.Y. 2023-2024, the total merchandise trade with the Netherlands stood at USD 27.335 billion (INR 226,378 crores). The total merchandise trade with the Netherlands accounts for 2.46% of India’s total merchandise trade. India has a trade surplus of USD 17.403 billion (INR 144,178 crores) with the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is India’s largest merchandise export destination in Europe and third largest in the world (after USA & UAE). In the F.Y. 2023-2024, India exported USD 22.369 billion (INR 185,278 crores) worth of goods to the Netherlands. The merchandise exports to Netherlands accounts for 5.12% of India’s total merchandise exports. The main items of Indian exports to the Netherlands include petroleum products, telecom instruments, drug formulations & biologicals, organic chemicals, RMG cotton including accessories, iron & steel, residual chemicals & allied products, electronic instruments, products of iron & steel, aluminium & products of aluminium.

In the F.Y. 2023-2024, India imported USD 4.966 billion (INR 41,100 crores) worth of goods from the Netherlands. The merchandise imports from Netherlands accounts for 0.74% of India’s total merchandise imports. The main items of Indian imports from the Netherlands include electronic components, medical & scientific instruments, machinery for dairy, vegetable oils, electronic instruments, plastic raw materials, drug formulations & biologicals, organic chemicals, residual chemicals & allied products, iron & steel.

Table 3: India-Netherlands Bilateral Trade

Financial Year

Amount in USD Billion

% Share in India’s Total Trade

Export

Import

Total Trade

Trade Balance

2018-2019

8.813

4.063

12.876

(+) 4.750

1.53

2019-2020

8.366

3.391

11.757

(+) 4.975

1.49

2020-2021

6.473

3.318

9.791

(+) 3.155

1.43

2021-2022

12.544

4.478

17.022

(+) 8.066

1.65

2022-2023

21.618

5.961

27.580

(+) 15.657

2.37

2023-2024

22.369

4.966

27.335

(+) 17.403

2.45

2024-2025 (Apr-Sep)

13.075

2.505

15.580

(+) 10.571

-

Source: Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India

There are over 300 Dutch companies present in India, including major players like Royal Philips, Signify, Akzo Nobel, Royal DSM, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Rabobank, Heineken, TomTom, Paques, Boskalis, Van Oord, Damen Shipyards, Vopak, Aegon, Koppert, Rijk Zwaan, etc. Similarly, there are over 300 Indian companies present in the Netherlands, including all the major IT companies such as TCS, HCL, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, as well as Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, LT Foods, Nature Bio Foods, Solis (Sonalika), Mittal Steel and United Phosphorus Limited (UPL). We also have the headquarters of the Indian PSU ‘ONGC Nile Ganga B.V.’ in the Netherlands.

Indian companies have made major acquisitions in the Netherlands like hotel company ‘OYO Hotels and Homes’ acquisition of Amsterdam-based vacation rental firm @Leisure Group in 2018, Tata Steel’s purchase of Anglo-Dutch ‘Corus’ in 2007, Ola Electric’s acquisition of Dutch electric scooter company ‘Etergo’ in 2020, Apollo Tyres’ acquisition of Dutch tyre maker Vredestein Banden in 2009, Aspire Systems’ acquisition of Dutch-Polish software solutions firm Goyello in 2018, and the purchase of the Dutch company Dutch Vaccine Institute – NVI (Bilthoven Biologicals - BBio) by the Serum Institute of India in 2012.

There are a number of organizations that are active in promoting India-Netherlands trade and investment such as the Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce & Trade (NICCT) and the Indian Business Chamber (IBC).

(III) Bilateral Investment

The Netherlands is the fourth largest foreign investor in India during F.Y. 2023-2024 with FDI equity inflows of USD 4,924 billion (INR 40,733 crores). From April 2000 to March 2024, the Netherlands was the fourth largest investor into India comprising 7% of overall investment with cumulative FDI equity inflow of USD 48,683 billion (INR 324,182 crores).

Table 1: FDI Equity Inflows to India from the Netherlands

Financial Year

Amount in USD Million

(INR in Crores)

2012-2013

1,856 (10,054)

2013-2014

2,270 (13,920)

2014-2015

3,436 (20,960)

2015-2016

2,643 (17,275)

2016-2017

3,367 (22,633)

2017-2018

2,800 (18,048)

2018-2019

3,870 (27,036)

2019-2020

6,500 (46,071)

2020-2021

2,789 (20,830)

2021-2022

4,620 (34,442)

2022-2023

2,498 (19,855)

2023-2024

4,924 (40,733)

April 2000 - March 2024

(Cumulative FDI)

48,683 (324,182)

Source: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India

During the period April 2000 till March 2024, the Netherlands is the fourth largest destination of foreign investment (Overseas Direct Investments - ODI) by Indian companies worth USD 25.031 billion accounting for 8.27% of total overseas investments. In F.Y. 2023-2024, the Netherlands was the fifth largest destination for ODI from India with investments of USD 1,098 million.

Table 2: ODI Outflows from India to the Netherlands

Financial Year

Amount in USD Million

2013-2014

1,774.43

2014-2015

731.78

2015-2016

994.60

2016-2017

743.71

2017-2018

1143.34

2018-2019

1105.06

2019-2020

1232.56

2020-2021

1,267.00

2021-2022

1,020.00

2022-2023

984.00

2023-2024

1,098.00

April 2000 – March 2024

(Cumulative ODI)

25,031.00

Source: Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India

(IV) Recent High Level Visits to Promote Trade and Investment

In 2017, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited the Netherlands marking the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between India and the Netherlands. A high-level CEOs roundtable also took place during the visit.

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte along with a high-level delegation visited India from May 24-25, 2018 and was accompanied by over 130 Dutch companies/institutions and nearly 200 trade representatives.

The Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited India as state guests from 14-18 October 2019 and were accompanied by the largest ever Dutch trade delegation to India comprising over 140 Dutch companies/institutions and nearly 250 business representatives. The focus areas of the delegation were the water sector, agri-food, healthcare, technology and maritime sector. The delegation visited New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kochi. Stef Blok (Dutch Foreign Minister), Sigrid Kaag (Minister for Foreign Trade and Development), Bruno Bruins (Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport) and Mona Keijzer (State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) accompanied the delegation along with Ineke Dezentje Hamming-Bluemink, Chairman of FME, the largest industrial employers and business organization in the Netherlands. 51 MoUs and agreements were signed between Dutch and Indian partners during the visit.

The Netherlands was India’s partner country for the Technology Summit at New Delhi which took place from 15-16 October 2019.

From 8-12 February 2021, a Dutch virtual trade mission to India took place led by Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development. The three focus areas of the trade delegation included Water, Food waste and energy.

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind paid a State Visit to the Netherlands from 4-7 April 2022. The President welcomed Dutch start-ups and SMEs working in geospatial mapping, Artificial Intelligence, clean energy, assistive technology, and biomedical devices to ‘Make in India’ and innovate in India. Other announcements during the visit include extension of MoU on bilateral cooperation in the field of Ports, Maritime Transport, and Logistics; and the extension of the Programme of Cooperation between Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Government of the Netherlands.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya led a delegation to the Netherlands from 15-17 December 2022. The Minister for Information Technology & Electronics of UP Yogendra Upadhyay was also a part of the delegation. The delegation visited several Dutch companies. The delegation held G2B meetings with CEOs/CXOs of several Dutch companies. A Conference on ‘Investment Opportunities in Uttar Pradesh’ took place during the visit, in which around 70 representatives from both Dutch and Indian companies participated.

The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher participated in the Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting at Jaipur on 24-25 August 2023 that was organized under India’s G20 Presidency. In the Meeting, she stressed the need to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte led the Netherlands Trade Mission to Bengaluru from 10-14 September 2023. The trade mission followed the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi from 9-10 September 2023. Around 90 representatives from over 60 Dutch companies were part of the trade mission representing the sectors of key enabling technologies, medical technologies and sustainable food systems. Around 27 MoUs were signed by Dutch and Indian stakeholders to reinforce the partnerships in semiconductors, cloud computing, sustainable agriculture, research and development in greenhouses, crop varieties, and technology development for the affordable healthcare sector.