Bilateral and Commercial Relations

The economic and commercial relations are an important component of India's bilateral relations with Spain. Spain is India's 6th largest trade partner in the European Union. Bilateral trade in  goods  in 2023 stood at US$ 8.25 billion, growing by 4.2% over a similar period a year ago. India's exports grew by 5.2% and stood at US$ 6.33 billion, while imports grew by 1.05% to reach US$1.92 billion. India's top exports to Spain are mineral fuels,mineral oils and products of their distillation, chemical products, iron and steel, electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof, articles of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted and non knitted), nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, marine products and articles of iron and steel.
India and Spain have strong economic relations too. Spain is the 16th  largest investor in India with cumulative FDI stock of US$ 3.94 billion (April 2000 - December 2023). There are more than 280 Spanish companies in India mainly in the sectors of metallurgical industries, renewable energy, automotive, ceramics and infrastructure (highways, transmission lines, tunnels and metro stations). Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the major destinations for Spanish investments in India.

Similarly Indian investments in Spain is around US$ 900 million. There are about 80 Indian companies in Spain mainly in software & IT services, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and logistics. India is among the top 30 investors in Spain globally and among the top 5 from Asia.

In order to give an impetus to trade and investment relations, India-Spain Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) was set up under the 1972 Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement and has since met twelve times. The 12th  round of the JCEC meeting was held in New Delhi in April 2023.

Under the framework of the JCEC, the India Spain CEOs Forum was constituted in February 2015. The first formal meeting of the CEOs Forum was held in Madrid in May 2017. Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA) along with the Spanish Centre for Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) instituted the India - Spain Program of Cooperation on Industrial Research and Development, a bilateral framework for providing financial support to collaborative R&D ventures between Indian and Spanish industry and academia.

India regularly participates with high level delegations and India pavilions in major international trade fairs and conferences in Spain viz. FITUR (Tourism), Mobile World Congress (Telecom), CPhI Worldwide (Pharmaceuticals), Smart City Expo World Congress (Smart Cities), Intergift (Decoration and Gift), Seafood Expo Global, FIMA Agricola( Agricultural Machinery), Hispack (Packaging), Alimentaria (Food, beverage and gastronomy) and Cevimasa (Ceramic tiles).

Sources: 
- Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Spain
- Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, India