Indian companies have invested €43 billion ($56 billion) across Europe between 2003-2012, of which €29 billion was mergers & acquisitions of 411 companies.
About €14 billion was invested across 511 projects during the decade, according to a report by the Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC), a body that promotes bilateral trade between the European Union and India.
The primary driver behind this investment is the rapid growth of Indian Multinational Corporations (MNC) which is seeking new markets for growth and diversifying risks, access to new technologies, R&D capabilities and leveraging their cash rich positions against low valuations in today’s financial market, it said in the report.
The report – ‘Indian Companies in the European Union: Reigniting Economic Growth’ – also said that Indian companies employ 1.34 lakh professionals in Europe, including 40,000 new jobs created by 511 greenfield investments.
The biggest pan-European employer is the Tata group, which counts about 80,000 employees across its 19 companies in Europe, including the IT giant Tata Consultancy Services.
“Indian Businesses have shown an extremely good track record in turning around troubled companies and that has made their investments even in existing European enterprises as both job protecting and job creating ones,” said Sunil Prasad, Secretary General of the EICC.
A dominant 47 per cent of the Indian greenfield investment and 63 per cent of the employment creation was accrued to the United Kingdom – with which India has strong historic, social and economic ties.
This was followed by Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Italy – which jointly accounted for 41 per cent of investment and 25 per cent of employment creation.