Cultivate Important Partnerships

Baden-Württemberg & Karlsruhe on a delegation trip to Maharashtra

Close, reliable and successful partnerships also include regular and personal people - especially across national borders. At the beginning of February, a delegation from Baden-Württemberg was once again in the Indian state of Maharashtra, the partner country of "The Länd" - to strengthen cooperation with the partner state.

Topics included cooperation on green hydrogen technologies and recruiting skilled workers. "In a world of global challenges and geopolitical change, it is more important than ever to stand together and cooperate," said Minister of State and Head of the State Chancellery Dr. Florian Stegmann on the occasion of his trip to India.

A German-Indian delegation, including from the cities of Baden-Baden, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, visited Aurangabad, Pune and Mumbai, places with which the cities mentioned have been cooperating successfully for years. "Eight years ago, we started to establish a strong dialogue with Maharashtra, our partner state," says Stegmann.

Despite the differences in size - Maharashtra has 114 million inhabitants, Baden-Württemberg 11 million - the two countries fit together very well thematically. “Both regions are strong business locations and home to a distinctive research landscape. Two real 'powerhouses' are working together here,” says Stegmann.

Strengthen cooperation with Maharashtra

"The aim of the trip was to strengthen cooperation and build on the successful collaboration of the past few years," said the minister. New impulses are to be generated, especially in the cooperation on green hydrogen technologies and in the recruitment of skilled workers (see separate article). Because with its rapidly growing middle class, India is also a huge market for Baden-Württemberg companies. The Indian government is ambitiously driving forward the modernization of the economy and is also promoting investments from abroad, as examples from Baden-Württemberg impressively show.

The fight against climate change also plays an important role, according to the Minister of State. New impetus for green hydrogen technologies In the field of renewable energies and especially in hydrogen and fuel cell technology, there are new, interesting opportunities for Indian and Baden-Württemberg companies and research institutions to cooperate and benefit from each other, said the representatives from the state at a round table on the topic " Green Hydrogen" in Pune, the place with which Karlsruhe has been successfully linked for years - and also has its own office there as a contact point for the technology region. Germany and India had already agreed on a hydrogen cooperation in May last year, now they want to jointly determine the technological and economic potential and contribute together to the development of a green hydrogen economy.

During a visit to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Chakan, where the company's first electric vehicle, the "EQS 580", is manufactured, the focus was on environmental technology, the expansion of renewable energies and the switch to electromobility. Intensify activities to recruit skilled workers In December 2022, the Indo-German Mobility and Migration Agreement was signed, which should make it easier and faster to do an apprenticeship, study, research or work in the two countries. Against this background, cooperation and activities in the field of recruiting skilled workers could also be intensified at a workshop during the trip. “Many young people from India study in Baden-Württemberg. Many universities in the country offer English curricula. More and more people from India are coming to Baden-Württemberg to work,” said Stegmann in unison with representatives of the two cities. In Pune, Minister of State Stegmann took part in an exchange of experiences with companies from Baden-Württemberg in India. Among other things, growth opportunities and business prospects for companies as well as challenges and opportunities in the Indian market for companies from Baden-Württemberg were discussed.

Minister Stegmann also opened the traditional "Stuttgart meets Mumbai" event, which has been a highlight in the social life of Stuttgart's Indian partner city for 19 years. The focus is on promoting a platform for intercultural exchange, connecting representatives from business, science, culture, film and society from both cities and countries. In this environment, Karlsruhe also took the opportunity to effectively draw attention to the "UNESCO City of Media Arts".

https://www.unesco.de/kultur-und-natur/kulturelle-vielfalt/unesco-creative-cities-netzwerk/karlsruhe