The President of India, Draupadi Murmu, is set to visit Slovakia this week. This would be the first Presidential visit to the country since 1996, when Shankar Dayal Sharma visited the nation. The visit comes when India and Slovakia are looking to elevate their partnership across business, information technology, automobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and defence.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Indian Ambassador to Slovakia Apoorva Srivastava said that 2025 will be a landmark year in India-Slovakia relations.
“Slovakia is extremely important for India in terms of economic cooperation with the EU. In fact, the country can be a gateway to Europe for India. Two senior ministers from Slovakia and two business delegations have already visited India in recent months, and the visit of the Indian President shows that there is a strong intent to deepen ties,” Srivastava said.
India-Slovakia trade has been growing almost 15% every year and reached $1.3 billion in 2024, surpassing the one billion mark for the first time. India imports engineering, electronic and automotive goods from Slovakia and exports footwear, textiles, engineering and automotive components.
There are 6,000 Indian nationals, including 300 students, living in Slovakia. Sources say the demand for Indian workers and skilled professionals has been growing.
The President of India will hold a delegation-level and a bilateral meeting with the President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini. Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico will also be meeting President Murmu. The President of Slovakia will also host a state banquet in honour of President Murmu.
Sources say the Indian government is now discussing a mobility partnership with Slovakia to enable the movement of skilled professionals between the countries. While India and Slovakia have had a defence pact since 1995, both sides are now considering ways to elevate the defence partnership through joint manufacturing collaborations and military exercises as well.
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS TIES BETWEEN INDIA AND SLOVAKIA
JAGUAR LAND ROVER
Tata Motors Jaguar Land Rover launched its plant in Nitra, Slovakia, in 2018 with an investment of 1.4 billion euros. The Nitra plant, with a capacity of 150,000 units, produces cars to address 35% of JLR’s total demand. 200 Indians work at the plant
TATRAVAGONKA
The Slovakian freight, railway wagons and bogies manufacturer entered India in 2015 by acquiring a 26% stake in Jupiter Group Kolkata.
INO BAT
India’s Amara Raja Group owns approximately 10% stake in the Slovakian electric vehicle battery manufacturer, Ino Bat. Amara Raja, along with local partners, has also signed an investment agreement with the Slovak government for the development of the country’s first gigafactory.
ENVIEN GROUP
Zuari Industries of India and Slovakia’s Envien Group signed an agreement in 2023 to jointly develop, construct an ethanol production plant in Uttar Pradesh. The JV is exploring ways to scale up ethanol production from 150 kiloliters per day to 1000 kiloliters per day in the near future.
GRAND POWER
Slovakian firearms maker, Grand Power, incorporated an Indian subsidiary in 2021, with the intention of making 80,000 pistols per year. They even purchased a plot of land in Tamil Nadu, but the operations are yet to commence.
Other Slovakian companies, such as MicroStep and Virtual Reality Media, supply meteorological equipment and simulators to the Indian defence PSUs.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Andrej Krupa, Special Advisor for Innovation and Technology to the President of the Slovak Republic, said that nuclear energy and data centers are priority areas for the Slovak government.
“India and Slovakia could work closely in developing AI solutions and new use cases. Slovakia stands ready to share its learning and best practices in AI with India,” he said.
Sources say the Indian government is keen to explore ways to deepen partnership with Slovakia in the automobile sector and also increase export of Indian pharmaceutical, apparel, IT and communication goods to the country. India and Europe are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with an intent to conclude it by the end of 2025, and India’s ties with Slovakia could get a further push post the signing of the FTA.
