Victoria launches multi-million ‘Engaging India’ plan

Plan aimed at boosting Victoria’s trade relations with Delhi, including through job creation and more investment opportunities.

To further boost its trade relations with India, the state of Victoria has launched of a new, multi-million dollar four-year strategy called the ‘Engaging India’ plan.

The initiative was launched by Premier of Victoria John Brumby on September 22 at Federation Square, Melbourne along with Industry and Trade Minister Jacinta Allan.

The new program will lead to an increased level of government collaboration between Victoria and India and a strengthening of community and cultural understanding.

Trade and investment has always been a key focus area for Victoria and India and the new engagement plan will ensure the setting up of Super Trade Missions – an initiative of trade delegations under the banner of ‘Team Victoria’ led by senior Victorian Government representatives which will be backed by  funding of an extra $4M.

The missions will include more than 200 Victorian companies and are projected to generate an additional $60 million in exports along with similar increases in investment and jobs.  It also includes pre-mission programs for Victorian businesses associating with India and facilitating return visits for Indian businesses to Victoria.

“Victoria has had a very positive trade growth with India in recent times with business growing by 25 per cent annually. The overall sentiment towards Victoria being a preferred trade and investment destination has been validated by major Indian companies who have invested into Victoria in the past few years. We are positive that the new “Engaging India” program will help grow the India-Victoria relationship forward,” said Mr Geoffrey Conaghan, Victoria’s Commissioner to India.  

Part of this program will also include in-market research for the business sector and increased promotion in India of Victoria’s trade and investment opportunities. The program will also see increasing government collaboration through a strategic partnership with Austrade in India to share information about potential investments and opportunities; more strategic agreements with Indian states backed by an ongoing exchange program to promote public sector capability building; and actively supporting visits to Victoria by Indian Ministers.

Some of the recent examples include Mahindra and Mahindra strengthening its aerospace business in Victoria through acquisitions, DEC Wadhawan investing $1 billion towards construction projects in Melbourne and Air India entering the Australian market with direct flights from Delhi to Melbourne. IT is another fast growing segment with nine Indian IT companies based out of Melbourne.

Education is yet another strong area of focus for the next four years. The “Engaging India” program will see 10 postgraduate PhD scholarships being provided to Indian students to study at Victorian universities. It is the first country-specific programme for PhD scholarships and Indians who will benefit from the $1M opportunity to study at world-renowned universities. The program will also see support for vocational education exchange scholarships for Karnataka students in Victoria.

In Victoria, a special initiative has been introduced by establishing a Chair in Contemporary Indian Studies at the Australia India Institute that will see an additional funding of $500K. The position will be the first in Australia with a multidisciplinary contemporary India focus.  The Chair will participate in academic visits, research projects and act as a focus for the education of Indian students in Australia.

Culturally, the “Engaging India” program will support a broad range of arts initiatives over the next four years.