The Andrews Labor Government is taking action to double the value of Victoria’s annual goods exports to India to almost $1 billion over the next decade.

Premier Daniel Andrews today unveiled Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future ahead of his first official visit to India this week.

The strategy is an ambitious blueprint aimed at growing exports to India, attracting more international students to enrol at our world-leading education providers and encouraging more people from India to experience for themselves the best of everything a visit to Victoria can offer.

India’s population is more than 1.3 billion people and the nation’s economy is the third-largest and fastest growing on earth – so it’s crucial for Victorian jobs and the economy that we make the most of the opportunities a close bond with India creates.

The strategy will create jobs and grow the Victorian economy by:

• Doubling the value of goods exports – such as food and manufacturing goods – to India from a five-year annual average of $500 million to almost $1 billion by 2027
• Increasing the number of Indian postgraduate research students in Victoria by 25 per cent
• Doubling the number of Victorian businesses engaged in India from 150 to 300
• Nearly tripling the expenditure by Indian visitors to Victoria to $885 million.

Victoria’s world-renowned expertise in fields such as health, sport, tourism and education combined with India’s appetite to innovate and grow presents enormous opportunities for Victorian businesses and industries.

Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future is the result of hundreds of hours of consultation with more than 200 partners, including senior representatives from community organisations, business, government and academic groups within the Australian Indian community.

Mr Andrews will travel to India on Monday, where he will showcase Victoria’s strengths as a world-class destination for international education, tourism, sports, culture and innovation.

Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews

“This blueprint is all about expanding our footprint in one of the world’s leading economies, which will boost Victorian businesses and create jobs for locals. We have a plan and we’re getting it done.”

“Our tourism, international education, sport and cultural and innovation offerings are the envy of the world. We want India to experience for themselves the best of everything Victoria produces.”

“We’ve worked closely with leaders and industry experts from the Australian Indian community on ways we can make our state’s bond with India even stronger.”