Easing Business for Indian Companies in Germany through New “Fast-Track” Mechanism

On 1 April 2019, the Indian Ambassador to Germany, Ms Mukta D. Tomar, signed a “fast-track” agreement with State Secretary Mr Christian Hirte of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The agreement intends to ease investments and doing business for Indian companies in Germany.

The initiative originates from an agreement between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indo-German intergovernmental consultations in 2015. Subsequently, the German Embassy in New Delhi has set up a “fast-track” mechanism for German companies in India. This mechanism has been successfully supporting German companies in India for several years.

The new fast-track mechanism opens the opportunity for Indian companies to directly contact BMWi via the Indian Embassy in Berlin to address their individual issues. In addition, regular meetings are planned between BMWi and the Indian Embassy in Berlin.

In India, the fast-track mechanism operated by the German Embassy in New Delhi is working closely with BMWi’s Global Project Quality Infrastructure (GPQI) to take up issues in the areas of standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment (e.g. certification), accreditation, and market surveillance through the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure. Among other things, GPQI informs the industry of new and draft technical regulations and allows industry to submit their comments to ministries and regulators.

Please find a press release on the “fast-track” mechanism on the BMWi website (in German).