Australia-India Economic Roadmap Business Breakfast

Acknowledgements and introduction

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

I extend that acknowledgment to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People here today.

I would also like to acknowledge:

• The Hon Madeleine King, Minister for Resources
• The Hon Julian Hill, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, and Assistant Minister for International Education
• The Hon Tim Watts, Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs
• Mr Ryan Neelam, CEO of the Centre for Australia India Relations
• Dr Parwinser, Cassandra Fernando and Khoda Patel
• Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece
• Indian Consul Generals Mr Anish Rajan and Mrs Neetu Bhagotia

His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Albanese will be joining us later today.

I would also like to welcome the senior business, academic and cultural leaders with us here today, including those joining the panel discussion.

Thank you Mosiqi for your introduction, and to the Centre for Australia-India Relations for hosting this morning’s reception.

This Centre was launched by Prime Minister Albanese during Prime Minister Modi’s visit in 2023, showing our commitment to one of Australia’s most important relationships in economic, cultural and strategic terms.

It’s not a new relationship, of course. It’s a relationship that has historical and material depth.

India has long been invested in the stability and prosperity of the Pacific; and Australia has long been invested in the stability and prosperity of the subcontinent and the Indian ocean.

Today, we are comprehensive strategic partners whose skills and expertise, shared vision for the region, and mutual commitment to good market practices help us steel one another against a more volatile world.

I want to reflect this morning on the significance of the Australia–India relationship today and the role that my portfolio plays in realising its potential.

Australian and Indian industrial statecraft

The first plank of this relationship’s success is our shared practice of strategic and industrial statecraft.

By that I mean, the Australian and Indian governments are both using new and existing institutional muscle to ensure our own – and one another’s – security, success and economic resilience.

For two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian governments behaved as if industrial policy was solely about comparative advantage and competition.

The mantra was that Australia should do fewer things and do them well, and let the rapidly growing economies with larger populations – not least India’s – do the rest.

As if global supply chains could always be relied upon, and Australia’s geography no longer mattered.

Given the pandemic, and the shocks caused war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, the Albanese Government is unambiguously clear: supply chain resilience and geostrategic clarity are non-negotiable for Australia.

And we recognise that these are non-negotiable for India, too.

The Indian people know what it means to confront global energy and supply chain shocks, and to do so in the shadow of military and strategic uncertainty.

The industrial policy agendas of Australia and India today – the Future Made in Australia plan and the Make In India agenda – show that our complementary strengths in global supply chains can generate cooperation rather than competition.

Making our nations stronger and more resilient at a time when we cannot rely on the rest of the world to be as benign as it was a decade or two ago.

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Australia and India identifies science, technology, and research collaboration as priority areas for cooperation between our countries.

Since its elevation in 2020, that partnership has been given practical effect through closer collaboration on artificial intelligence; shared research on solar and hydrogen energy technologies; greater mutual recognition of educational qualifications, and; joint exercises to strengthen maritime cooperation and security.

Technological partnerships for today and tomorrow

Again, that’s modern Australia and modern India building on a longer partnership.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.

Over two decades, that Fund has supported more than 90 collaborative projects with over $100 million in joint investment, spanning clean energy, agriculture, and health.

And in recent months, we’ve announced five new joint research projects, cumulatively worth $3.76 million, that reflect our shared scientific ambitions – from clean energy to biotech.

As Minister for Science, I’m particularly proud of the role that the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, plays in research collaboration with Indian counterparts.

Including work with the Indian Institute of Science to conduct world-first trials that replace coal with agricultural waste that can be used to power the energy-intensive steelmaking process.

The new trilateral Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership means that our countries, along with our Canadian partners, are at the table together, shaping critical and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence so that they serve our objectives for energy innovation and supply chain resilience.

India is also one of Australia’s enduring space partners, with cooperation spanning strategically important areas such as advanced manufacturing, space exploration, artificial intelligence and space monitoring.

I understand the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conducted the first ground test of the solid motor for the launch vehicle for the landmark Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight program two weeks ago, and that an uncrewed test flight is planned for the coming months.

Australian engineers and researchers are proudly working with their Indian counterparts to support the Gaganyaan program.

Investing in one another

Our partnership is increasingly underpinned by economic and trade cooperation.

The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement has reduced tariffs on 90 percent (by value) of Australian goods exported to India.

From the beginning of this year, 100 percent of imports from India are duty-free.

And we’re negotiating an ambitious free trade agreement, the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, to build on this success and broaden the benefits to both our countries.

In 2024-25, our two-way trade hit the $50 billion mark for the first time.

That’s a product of our two nations working in partnership for a stronger, safer and more resilient Indo-Pacific.

Those trade statistics are also, of course, the result of Indian and Australian businesses building partnerships that create jobs, drive innovation, and strengthen our economies.

Australia’s new Roadmap for Economic Engagement with India, launched by the Prime Minister last year, is already seeing results across its superhighways of clean energy, agribusiness, education and tourism.

We will hear from leaders in these sectors in the panel session later.  

You can see it in tech and digital technology. India’s biggest technology companies are now an important part of the Australian economy.  

They help our businesses continue to deliver innovation and productivity, all while maintaining high levels of cybersecurity.  

We have representatives here today from Tata Consultancy Services, ITC Infotech and Zoho – all of whom have Asia regional managers based in Australia.

Furthermore, Australian businesses are increasingly recognising and working with India's world-class innovation ecosystem.

Success stories such as Atlassian and Canva are strengthening connections between Australia's and India's technology sectors, supporting collaboration in areas like software development, digital services and innovation.

While Australian-founded company AirTrunk is expanding into India by investing in hyperscale AI and cloud data centres, supporting the country’s rapidly growing digital infrastructure and computing capacity.

You can see our business-to-business links in energy.

Suzlon, a leading provider of wind turbines, has significant Australian operations.

As India accelerates its energy transition, Australian critical minerals, renewable energy expertise and low-emissions technologies can help meet growing demand while creating new investment, manufacturing and decarbonisation opportunities for both countries.

The Australia Rooftop Solar Training Academy, supported through the India-Australia Renewable Energy Partnership in India, showcases how our countries are collaborating on the clean energy transition.

By sharing Australian expertise and training the next generation of solar professionals, the academy is helping India's growing rooftop solar sector to deliver cleaner electricity, lower emissions and greater energy resilience for local communities.

Australia’s Powerledger is making the energy market more efficient and lowering electricity prices for Indian consumers by working with the government of Uttar Pradesh to pilot a platform that records transactions and stores them in an encrypted format – improving transparency and reliability while reducing transaction costs.

People-to-people links

Business-to-business links are, at their heart, links between people.

Many of you in the room today are helping to shape our bilateral future as Maitri Grants recipients.

Delivered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations, these grants – Maitri meaning ‘friendship’ in Sanskrit – foster collaboration between our countries through grants, scholarships, and fellowships.

Just three years in, the Centre has awarded $25 million to 112 grants across business, education, research, sport, arts and culture.

The program has created practical partnerships across key sectors that matter to both Australia and India.

From advancing partnerships in sustainable manufacturing, to equipping producers to access global agricultural markets and deepening collaboration in semiconductor supply chains, the Maitri Grants play a vital role in strengthening the ties between Australia and India.

To cite just some examples:

• Asialink Business has strengthened agtech and cleantech cooperation through industry playbooks, capability training and showcasing Australian expertise in India.
• The University of Adelaide is fostering innovation in both countries by connecting leading business incubators, entrepreneurs and researchers.
• The Australian Industry Group is supporting hundreds of local businesses to build Indian market knowledge and cultural intelligence – ultimately leading to greater export readiness.

Projects like these demonstrate how the Maitri Grants program is translating Australia’s growing India literacy into tangible outcomes.

In education, Deakin University and University of Wollongong have become the first foreign universities to establish campuses in India, creating new opportunities for students while strengthening research, skills and innovation links between our countries.

Six other Australian universities are set to join them later this year.

Later today, you’ll hear from Deakin University’s VP (Global Engagement) and CEO (South Asia), Ravneet Pawha.

In agribusiness, Perdaman, headed up by Indian-born businessman Vikas Rambal, is developing a major urea fertiliser plant near Karratha.

Turning Western Australian natural gas into fertiliser, strengthening Australian supply chains while fuelling our farms.

That is vital for Australia’s economic resilience.

And in tourism, Indian visitors contribute more than $1.5 billion to our economy each year, supporting businesses and jobs across Australia.

Direct flights, cricket, film, food and diaspora networks convert mutual affinity into jobs, investment, and regional tourism. (Well, maybe a little healthy competition too where cricket is concerned.)

As aviation links expand and India’s middle class continues to grow, cross-border tourism opportunities will continue to grow.

We will hear more about this later from Tourism Australia’s Managing Director, Mr Robin Mack.  

Conclusion

The bottom line is clear: our people-to-people ties are playing a crucial role in making Australia stronger, and delivering real, tangible benefits to both Australia and India.

As the Prime Minister has said previously, the generosity, hard work, and aspiration of the one-million-strong Indian-Australian community have contributed hugely to our culture and prosperity.

The relationship between our countries has never been healthier.

That’s important – because the stakes have never been higher.

The decisions we make now, and the ties we build, will shape the economic architecture of the Indo-Pacific – and our own bilateral relationship – for decades to come.

I look forward to today’s conversation. Thank you.