Goyal pitches 10-fold jump in India-Spain trade, investment over next decade

Goyal held talks with Spain's First Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo Caballero and Industry and Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu Boher, besides addressing the India-Spain Business Forum and meeting business leaders.

The visit comes as India and Spain mark 70 years of diplomatic relations and celebrate the India-Spain Dual Year of Culture, Tourism and Artificial Intelligence 2026.

During his meeting with Cuerpo, Goyal discussed ways to strengthen trade and investment ties, improve market access, build resilient supply chains and promote innovation-led growth, according to an official statement..

The discussions focused on renewable energy, green hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, infrastructure and innovation.

The two sides also exchanged views on the proposed India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and agreed to make full use of the fast track mechanism to facilitate investments and strengthen business confidence.

Goyal said India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) are expected to finish the legal scrubbing of the trade pact text in another "week or two".

He said that it will be operationalised a few months after the operationalisation of the India-UK trade agreement, which is coming into force from July 15.

"India EU free trade agreement legal scrub should be over in another week or two," he said at the India-Spain Business Forum.

Goyal said that there was no criticism of the India-EU trade agreement in any of the member states.

"All the members are completely aligned in this partnership with India. There is dissent or dissatisfaction back in India also," he said.

They also looked forward to convening the next meeting of the India-Spain Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation later this year.

In his meeting with Hereu, Goyal discussed expanding cooperation in sustainable manufacturing, clean energy, mobility, automotive, railways, smart infrastructure and tourism.

Both sides hailed the C-295 aircraft programme as a flagship example of industrial collaboration under the Make in India initiative and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening industry-to-industry partnerships.

He also met senior officials of ICEX, Spain's trade and investment promotion agency, to discuss measures for boosting bilateral investment flows, technology collaboration and business partnerships.

Talking about India-Spain trade, the minister said that huge potential is there to boost the current bilateral trade, which is less than USD 10 billion. It was USD 9.2 billion in 2025-26.

"Can we look at increasing bilateral trade between Spain and India 10X in the next 10 years? Can we look at an increase in tourists both sides 10X in the next 10 years? Can we imagine increasing investments 10X in the next 10 years?" he asked.

Goyal later interacted with members of the Indian business delegation led by FICCI and encouraged greater Indian investment and commercial engagement with Spain.

The commerce ministry said the visit reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to deepen their strategic economic partnership through enhanced trade, investment, industrial collaboration and innovation.