As the nation has liberalized its foreign direct investment (FDI) in sectors such as mining and defence development, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, there is a massive potential for Australian firms to invest in India. He also expressed the expectation that the talks for the new free trade deal between countries, officially referred to as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, would go forward.
"I believe there is a tremendous scope for Australian investments also into India as we ease our FDI norms and open up different sectors like mining, and defence production. These are the areas which are of natural interest to Australia," Piyush Goyal said at CII's Partnership Summit.
Australia has been an attractive destination for several Indian companies particularly firms in the areas such as banking, IT, and petroleum, he said. "We are looking forward to a faster ramp (up) of some of the companies which have faced some problems in Australia and I do hope that they will be able to get back into fast-track implementation of their projects and serve the people of Australia with jobs and people of India with requisite raw materials," he added. India's exports to Australia in 2019-20 stood at USD 2.9 billion, while imports aggregated at USD 9.8 billion.
He added that India has agreed not to join the mega trade deal right now - the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) agreement — and the "doors remain firmly open" from the Australian viewpoint.