Consulate General of India
Munich
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Brief on Baden-Wuerttemberg

General:

Germany comprises 16 states. The Consulate General of India in Munich represents India in two states viz. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg (BW). Together these two states are considered the economic powerhouse of Germany.

Population:

The total population of Germany is around 83.5 million. With a population of 11.2 mn, Baden-Württemberg is the third most populous state in Germany after Bavaria (13.2 mn) and North Rhine-Westphalia (18 mn). The present population of Baden-Württemberg has remained stable over the last ten years. The State Statistical Office has predicted that the population would decrease in the coming years, especially the working-age population. Considering its repercussions on the industry, the State government is taking steps to increase the immigration of skilled professionals.

Economy:

Baden-Württemberg is one of the strongest economic regions in Europe . Baden-Württemberg is considered the most innovative region in the European Union , especially in the area of industrial technology, research and development. Baden-Württemberg is also home to global players like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Robert-Bosch Gmbh, SAP, etc. It is also known for innovative start-ups and small and medium businesses (Mittelstand). However, Baden-Württemberg’s economy has been in a recession since 2023 and in 2025 declined by 0.3% unlike Germany as whole which grew by 0.2%.

High-Tech and R&D:

Baden-Württemberg is considered as one of the most innovative regions of Europe. Numerous inventions from Baden-Württemberg have changed the world. These include most notably, the automobile, which was invented in 1886. However, many other everyday items such as ring binders, matches, photocopiers, electrical drills, and even the ski lift originated in this state. Since 2018, the state government and the federal government have implemented “Excellence Strategy” program providing 533 million Euros annually for university research and institutional strategies for development in the field of cutting-edge technology. From 2026, the total budget will be increased to EUR 687 million per year. At 5.7 per cent of its GDP (5.55 billion euros), Baden-Württemberg is the federal state that spends the highest proportion of its GDP on research. Germany: 3.1 per cent. With the current construction of the IPAI Innovation Park in Heilbronn, one of the largest AI research centres in Europe is being built.

Driven by the high-tech culture, Baden-Württemberg holds the first position among the top patent generators in Germany with 15.161 patent applications in 2025. Some of the world-known centres of excellence and R&D located in Baden-Württemberg are the Institute of Beam Tools (Stuttgart), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Cancer Research Centre and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg). City of Freiburg in the State has been globally recognised as the Green City for having employed state-of-the-art sustainable technologies.

India-Baden-Württemberg trade:

Baden-Württemberg is a major driving force for growing India-Germany trade and investment ties. During the year 2025, Indian exports to Baden-Württemberg stood at 2.0 Billion euros and imports at 2.5 Billion euros. Top import items from Baden-Württemberg are machines, data processing equipment, electronic and optical products etc. The major export items from India are machines, pharmaceutical products, motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts.

Indian investment in Baden-Württemberg: There are around 50 Indian companies in Baden-Württemberg. Prominent Indian investors in Baden-Wuerttemberg are: TCS, Infosys, Tata Technologies, Wipro, Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, etc.

Baden-Württemberg investment in India: Baden Württemberg is also an important investment partner with nearly 350 companies from the State already operating in India. Some of the best-known Baden-Württemberg investors in India include Mercedes-Benz AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, SAP AG, Heidelberg Cement, Porsche, Würth, Voith, Lapp Cables, etc.

Visits to India:

• January 22-29, 2017: 120-member delegation led by Minister President (Chief Minister) of Baden-Württemberg, Mr. Winfried Kretschmann, Lord Mayors of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe visited Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The focus areas of the delegations were sustainable urban development including intelligent solutions for the city of the future in the areas of mobility, water, waste management, energy as well as innovative solutions for mechanical engineering, and automobile production.

• October 2-6, 2017: A business delegation led by Mr.Kalus-Peter Murawski, State Minister of Baden-Württemberg visited India.

• January 2018: Petra Olschowski, State Secretary (Science) and Mr. Fritz Kuhn, Mayor of Stuttgart took part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the “Sister City Relationship” between Mumbai and Stuttgart. During the visit, a MoU was signed between the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and s Baden-Wuerttemberg (FABW) of Germany to promote International academic cooperation.

• February 2020: Minister of State Theresa Schopper visited India from 1 to 8 February with a 40-member delegation from politics, culture and agriculture. During the visit the delegation had a meeting with the Governor Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

• February 2023: Dr. Florian Stegmann, State Minister and Head of Chancellery of Baden-Wuerttemberg led a delegation of the Government of Baden-Wuerttemberg to Maharashtra from 1-5 February 2023. During the visit, Dr. Stegmann had meetings with Shri Rahul Narvekar, Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly; Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra; Shri Uday Samant, Minister of Industries, Govt. of Maharashtra. The visit was undertaken as part of the regular exchange in the framework of the State Partnership between Baden-Wuerttemberg Maharashtra and the cities of Mumbai-Stuttgart and Pune-Karlsruhe. Several other commerce-related meetings were also conducted during the visit.

• February 2024: Dr. Florian Stegmann, State Minister and Head of Chancellery of Baden-Wuerttemberg led a 40-member delegation to Maharashtra from February 24th to March 1st During the visit, Dr. Stegmann had meetings with Hon. Minister for Tourism, skill development and Entrepreneurship, Women and Child Development Shri Mangal Prabhat and Minister of School Education and Marathi Language Shri Deepak Kesarkar.

• 02 – 08 February 2025: Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism led a 44 member delegation with focus on mechanical engineering, Industry 4.0 and medtech. The delegation is going to visit Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. During the visit Dr Hoffmeister-Kraut had meeting with Hon. Minister Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State of for Labour and Employment, and members of Maharashtra government

• 07 – 09 February 2025: Petra Olschowski, Minister for Science, Research and Arts, led a 24-member Baden-Württemberg science delegation to Mumbai and Pune fromto strengthen higher education and research cooperation with the Indian state of Maharashtra. During the visit The delegation met Hon, Minister of Higher and Technical Education of Maharashtra Shri Chandrakant Patil,

• 01 – 06 December: Manne Lucha, Minister for Social Affairs and Integration led a delegation of around 30 representatives from hospitals, care facilities, nursing schools, government agencies and associations to Mumbai and Pune, Maharashtra. The visit focused on addressing Baden-Württemberg's growing nursing workforce shortage by strengthening cooperation with Indian partners in healthcare, recruiting qualified nursing professionals, and promoting fair and sustainable skilled migration. The delegation visited hospitals, nursing colleges and educational institutions, including King Edward Memorial Hospital, Jehangir Hospital, the Deccan Education Society (DES) and the Serum Institute of India, Maharashtra and Baden-Württemberg signed an MoU on healthcare and nursing. The delegation met Hon, Minister of State for Urban Development of Maharashtra Smt. Madhuri Misal.

 Visits from India:

• 14-15 October 2015: Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries, Govt. of India, accompanied by representatives of functional Mega Food Park in India, visited Stuttgart. During the visit, she interacted with Government officials, representatives of cooperatives and other stakeholders.

• 18-21 July 2017: Shri Jaykumar Rawal, Minister for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra visited Baden-Wuerttemberg to promote tourism in Maharashtra and to meet with the Government officials/ stakeholders in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

• June 20-22, 2018: Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Government of India visited Germany to visit German SPR Management entity.

• 13-17 September 2019: Delegation led by Sh. Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Minister of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises, Government of India visited Germany for participation in the IAA Motor show and IAA-India Day 2019.

• 12-16 May 2023: Delegation led by Shri Deepak Vasant Kesarkar, Hon’ble Minister for School Education & Marathi Language visited Baden-Wuerttemberg and meet with Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Education Minister Theresa Schopper and Minister of State Dr. Florian Stegmann for stronger cooperation in (vocational) education and training in Stuttgart and meet Dr. Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe

• 11- 14 June 2024: Delegation led by Shri Deepak Vasant Kesarkar, Hon’ble Minister for School Education & Marathi Language visited Baden-Wuerttemberg and met with Science Minister Petra Olschowski, Minister of State Dr. Florian Stegmann and met Dr. Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe for stronger cooperation in (vocational) education and training. The delegation also met with Entrepreneur Association Baden-Württemberg UBW, as well as various vocational training schools.

• 21-24 November 2024: Delegation led by Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia. Hon’ble Minister of Communications met with Chairman of the board of Deutsche Post AG. During the visit, the delegation, together with Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister for Railways; Information & Broadcasting; Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, took part in the TV9 Global Summit at MHP Arena, Stuttgart to promote business and collaboration between India and Germany.

• 27 – 29 November 2024: Delegation led by Shri Dr. Mohan Yadav, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madya Pradesh visited Lapp company and joined a roundtable meeting for investors. With Prof. Dr. Lars Krogmann, Director of Natural History Museum Stuttgart, a MoU was signed.

• 3 - 6 December 2024: Delegation led by Shri M.B. Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure, Government of Karnataka visited Baden-Wuerttemberg. The delegation visited the companies; Index-Werke, Bosch and met with representatives of Chamber of Commerce (IHK) Region Stuttgart

Co-operation MOUs:

India and Baden-Wuerttemberg have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further enhance bilateral cooperation between the State of Maharashtra and Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2015; Partnerships exist between Stuttgart-Mumbai since 1968; city of Karlsruhe & Chamber of Commerce, Pune since 2014 and Coimbatore and Esslingen since 2016.

A Joint Declaration of Intent between The State of Baden- Württemberg and The state of Maharashtra was signed on February 25, 2024.

A MoU on Maharashtra and Baden-Württemberg signed an MoU on healthcare and nursing was signed in December 2026

Educational Co-operation:

• The two sides have very close cooperation in the fields of higher education and technology. Universities in Baden-Wuerttemberg have cooperation agreements with multiple institutes/ universities from India. On the Baden-Wuerttemberg side, important institutions involved in this cooperation include Universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Ulm, Hohenheim, and Pforzheim, besides the Institute of South Asian Studies, Heidelberg. On the Indian side, the major Universities/institutions are JNU, CDRI (Lucknow); IITs (Delhi, Chennai, Kharagpur and Mumbai), IISc (Bengaluru); Indian Institute of Information Technology (Bangaluru), Anna University (Chennai), Indira Gandhi Research Centre (Kalpakkam), India Statistical Institute (Kolkata), University of Delhi, Hyderabad; ICSSR (New Delhi), IGNCA (New Delhi), IIM (Ahmedabad), IIFT (New Delhi).

• Tübingen University and Malayalam University, Kerala, entered into an agreement to set up the ‘Gundert Chair’ on Malayalam language with the support of UGC of India. The Chair was formally inaugurated at Tübingen University on 9th Oct. 2015.

• In August 2005, the Ministry of External Affairs and the German Foreign Office approved a proposal for reciprocal arrangement for grant of courtesy visas to groups of school children from both sides, for promoting closer people-to-people contacts. Under this initiative, several schools from the State of Baden-Württemberg have entered into exchange programmes with reputed Indian schools from different States.
  
  

Cultural Activities:

• India Summer Week in Stuttgart is organised on an annual basis since 2004. in 2013, Mahatma Gandhi’s bust was unveiled as part of the Indian Summer festival held in 2013.

• CMT (Caravan, Motor, Touristik) Travel Fair is held every year in the city of Stuttgart and is considered to be the world’s largest consumer show for tourism and leisure. In 2016, India participated as a Partner Country - for long-haul destinations in the event.

• A cultural troupe from Maharashtra performed at India Summer Festival, Karlsruhe, and at India Week at Stuttgart held in July 2017. First ever ‘Maharashtra day’ was celebrated in Stuttgart in May 2018. The event in July 2018 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Stuttgart Mumbai city partnership.

• During the pandemic, Indian Summer Days were held in a digital form due to restrictions. In 2021, the 18th Indian Summer and Indian Film Festival was held in Stuttgart.

• As a part of the Amrit Kaal celebration, the Consulate organized various cultural events in association with Indian diaspora organizations in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

• The Consulate participated in the India Summer Days at Karlsruhe from July 22-24, 2022, which is one of the biggest festivals of South Germany with footfall of close to 2-3 lakhs people in three days festival. ICCR sponsored cultural troupe from Mumbai ‘Bhairi Bhawani Performing Arts’ performed during the festival and got a standing ovation for their performances.

• The Consulate organized AKAM Iconic Event Ramayana (dance drama event) at Karlsruhe on September 25, 2022. The event was graced by Lord Mayors of Karlsruhe and Walldorf. The event involved cultural presentation from around 60 artists performing various acts. Around 750-800 people witnessed the greatest Indian saga.

• The Consulate participated in the intercultural festival at Friedrichshafen, which involved footfall of close to 5000 people on July 2, 2022. The event involved cultural presentation from local troupe and Indian food stall containing mouth-watering Indian cuisines.

• In addition to these events, the Consulate has also organized a number of events under AKAM celebrations in 2022 in the state of Baden-Württemberg including Gandhi Jayanti, Margazhi Utsav, Diwali celebrations, etc. The events have been attended by a large number of local Germans and people of Indian origin.

Ayurveda/Yoga in Baden-Württemberg:

The black forest area of Baden-Württemberg has several popular Ayurveda centres. The International Day of Yoga was celebrated in Schwäbisch Hall on 21 June 2015. Continuing with a long tradition of supporting yoga, the city of Öhringen also hosted a day-long ‘Yoga Day’ to celebrate ‘International Yoga Day 2018’. Since then, the celebrations have continued in other cities, for example in Bietigheim-Bissingen in 2021. Also, the Consulate is collaborating with local partners to host Ayurveda events in the region.

Indian Students in Baden-Württemberg:

Around 4,658 Indian students are registered at various universities in Baden-Württemberg. Among them many students are registered at Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Tübingen.

Indian Community in Baden-Württemberg:

As per the latest data available, there are 45,785 Indians living in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Additionally, there are about 10,000 Germans of Indian origin in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Though small, the Indian community is quite active and comprises 4 distinct groups namely (i) those who came in the 60s for higher education, most of them are now living a retired life; (ii) those who came in the late 70s and 80s, most of whom are in textiles and restaurant business; (iii) IT professionals and (iv) University students. The well-integrated Indian community also remains in active contact with developments back home and organizes various cultural functions.

Honorary Indian Consulate in Stuttgart:

India has a long tradition of maintaining an Honorary Consulate in Stuttgart, which was continued after the establishment of CGI, Munich in the year 2002. The present Honorary Consul is Mr. Andreas Lapp, an industrialist from Stuttgart who has also invested in India. Mr. Lapp contributes to the organization of the India Summer Week in Stuttgart where Stuttgart Indian Film Festival is held annually and organizes the ‘Stuttgart meets Mumbai’ event.

An annual meet titled ‘Stuttgart meets Mumbai Winefest’ takes place on the basis of the twinning agreement in Mumbai. In recent years, a delegation from the City of Stuttgart led by the Lord Mayor has been visiting Mumbai as part of the ‘Stuttgart meets Mumbai’ to strengthen cooperation in business, education, health, and culture. The 19th Wine Festival took place in February 2023. with more than 1,000 guests from India, Germany and other countries. Mr. Lapp is also the Convener of the Stuttgart Chapter of the German India Round Table (GIRT). As part of his own establishment in Stuttgart, he also operates an India Business Centre.

Out-reach activities of the Consulate:

In recent years, the Consulate has reached out to various stakeholders including Ministries in Stuttgart and Mayors in important cities. Efforts have been made to connect with important Universities and Research Institutes, and schools involved in student-exchange programs. Since there are several diaspora/community associations in Baden-Württemberg, Consulate encourages them to organize events related to Indian festivals, cultures etc. and provides financial support where possible.

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Baden-Wuerttemberg State Parliament

Macro-economic data: Baden-Wuerttemberg and Germany

Indo- Baden-Wuerttemberg /German- Trade (Value in million euros)

Total Baden-Wuerttemberg/German Trade

(Value in billion euros)

(Source : Aussenhandel Bayern and Aussenhandel Baden Wuerttemberg)