India-Nordic Relations & Cooperation for Green Transition

Context – Over the last few decades, the Nordic nations have been the pioneers of green technology globally. They have also been at the forefront of developing new green technologies and solutions including hydrogen, offshore wind, batteries and carbon capture and storage solutions.
The Nordic Nations in cooperation with India can power the world’s green transition requirements by delivering key technologies and solutions to stop climate change and boost green growth.

India-Nordic Relations

• Nordic-India Summit – At the Nordic-India Summit held in Copenhagen in May 2022, the five Nordic Prime Ministers and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to intensify cooperation on digitalisation, renewable energy, maritime industries, and the circular economy.
  
• Joint Nordic solutions for green transition – Modi expressed an interest in joint Nordic solutions that can support India’s green transition.
  
• Knowledge exchange and cooperation – It is very much with this in mind that the Trade Ministers of Norway and Finland, are currently visiting India together. During their visit, they aim to showcase the added value the partnership can bring to India and learn from the impressive innovations and digital solutions being developed in India.
  
• Ambition to increase collaboration – They have business delegations and companies that are leaders within sectors such as clean energy, circular economy, digitalisation, tourism, and the maritime sector. They have great ambitions for increased collaboration with India.
  
• Nordic business community in India is also growing – The most valued and renowned Nordic businesses are already operating in India and have made substantial investments. There are now 240 Norwegian and Finnish companies in India.

Trade Links

• India is a priority country for Finland – The past year has seen a significant rise in trade and investments between Finland and India, and India has grown to become a priority country for Finland.
• For instance: Finland opened a new consulate General in Mumbai. This further increases the number of Nordic representations in India’s commercial capital and will contribute to strengthening India-Finnish ties.
• Trade between Norway and India has doubled in the last three years – Finnish companies such as Nokia and Fortum see India as their largest growth market now and have some of their most significant investments in India. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund is likely to become one of India’s largest single foreign investors (around $17.6 billion).
• Number of investments is increasing rapidly – The Norwegian government has also recently established a new Climate Investment Fund for investments in renewables abroad, and India has declined as a focus country. Almost ₹1,500 crore have been invested so far in India through the climate investment fund, and the number of investments is increasing rapidly.

Untapped Potential for Collaborations in Future

• Finland, as a member of the European Union (EU), is a part of the EU-India FTA negotiations, and Norway is negotiating through the European Free Trade Association.
• Trade in services is an area of significant potential, especially with tourism, education, IT, energy, maritime and financial services.
• As India takes rapid strides into a green, digital, and innovative future, Nordic countries such as Finland and Norway stand ready to share experiences and be a part of India’s transition.

Way Forward

Although Nordic countries are significantly smaller than India population-wise and located on the other side of the globe, they have world-leading technologies and expertise. Technologies and innovations that are successful and are scaled-up in India can easily be transferred to other parts of the world. Together, the Nordics and India can be the powerhouse of the green transition globally.

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