Winning Bizness Sports Desk
Mumbai. Recently concluded G-20 meeting held in New Delhi has not yielded a positive response, at least in terms of India-Canada relations. Rising tensions between Canada and India have raised concerns in the business world. After the same meeting, a special meeting was held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, in which both the leaders discussed Khalistan. Referring to the same meeting, on the third day after returning to Canada from India, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made serious accusations against India and the whole world was shocked. India has rejected all the allegations of Canada and the High Commissioner of Canada has been asked to leave the country.
Canada ranks ninth in terms of India's international trade. Both the countries have multi-crore agreements in many fields like education and other industry. The ongoing diplomatic spat between countries with major trading partners could create problems for Indian companies operating in Canada and affect their huge investments there. If this happens, it will be a matter of concern not only for Indian companies, but also for the Canadian economy, as these companies employ thousands of Canadians.
This report published by CII
What is the importance of Indian companies to Canada and how big are these companies investing there? In this regard, detailed information with statistics was released in May 2023 this year. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) released a report titled 'From India to Canada: Economic Impact and Engagement'. The report was released when Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was on a visit to Toronto. CII report highlights with statistics how important India is not only to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Gulf countries but also to countries like Canada. The report said that the contribution of Indian skills to the Canadian economy and Indian investment in Canada has increased. Along with this, the increasing presence of Indian industries in Canada and the importance of Indian companies in FDI, employment generation was highlighted.
Major investments by 30 Indian companies
According to the report, 30 Indian companies have a presence in Canada and their investments in the country are worth Rs 40,446 crore. Not only this, even before the current tensions between the two countries, a survey report on trade relations revealed that 85 percent of these Indian companies present hoped to increase funding for innovation in the future. More than 17 thousand people have got employment through Indian companies doing business in Canada. The R&D expenditure of these companies is also said to be 700 million Canadian dollars. The report claimed that Indian business is growing in Canada, which is good for the economies of both countries. Now that the tension between India and Canada is increasing, it seems that this will definitely affect the companies doing business there.
Trade and investment between the two countries
Due to ease of trade and good relations between India and Canada, India has invested heavily there. Canadian pension funds have also invested $55 billion in India. Indian IT companies have a large presence in Canada. Apart from this, Indian companies are active in software, natural resources and banking sectors. These include big names like Wipro and Infosys. India was Canada's tenth largest trading partner last year - in 2022. In the financial year 2022-23, India exported goods worth $4.10 billion to Canada. While Canada exported goods worth $4.05 billion to India in 2022-23. Bilateral trade between the two countries was $7 billion in 2021-22, which has increased to $8.16 billion in 2022-23.
