Australian agtech companies could soon be selling products into India as trade relations strengthen off the back of the free trade agreement between the two nations.
A delegation of leaders from some of India's largest agribusinesses has been touring Australia this week and visited Toowoomba's Agtech and Logistics Hub on Thursday.
Plans for the trip have been brewing since before the pandemic, according to Austrade trade and investment commissioner to Mumbai John Southwell.
Mr Southwell said Austrade runs the Australia India Business Exchange, which creates win-win partnerships for both countries.
The exchange is about bringing businesses and people together to drive investment into Australia and get Australian goods into India - not just for agriculture but in the education, health, infrastructure and water resource management sectors as well.
Mr Southwell said Australia and India faced many similar challenges in terms of climate and water availability.
But the key difference between the two nations was farm size and scale.
"The delegation are very interested in Australian agritech, to be able to utilise that for the benefit of India's farmers and industry, as well as being able to invest here in Australia," he said.
"They benefit from the innovations we develop, as well as ensuring that some of the investments we make back here are then capitalised or built upon.
"We have around 300,000 farmers, they have 300 million, so it's actually an opportunity to be able to scale up some of the things we do but also make sure it's relevant to the Indian context."
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Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare joint secretary Shomita JS Biswas said the delegation was a learning opportunity and the sharing of experience would deepen the relationship between India and Australia.
Agtech and Logistics Hub director Thomas Hall said there were lots of great opportunities where the two countries could collaborate on technology, research, innovation or business-to-business.
"It's important to showcase some of the entrepreneurs and innovators in this region and the types of technology and products they are producing in the sustainability, automation, robotics and traceability space," he said.
"By having this delegation here we're hoping they like what's on show in that space and they can help us fund future programs but also look at a venture capitalist side of supporting some of these innovators to grow and scale internationally."
