India, a vast but challenging market for Swiss companies

The Mumbai skyline. Keystone/epa/Divyakant Solanki

The free trade agreement between Switzerland and India came into force on October 1. Entrepreneurs from canton Vaud recently took part in an economic mission to explore this promising – but complex – market of 1.4 billion inhabitants. Swiss public broadcaster RTS joined the delegation.

“It’s a hungry market,” said Romain Blaser, founder of Haidi, an AI-based logistics software company, speaking on RTS’s La Matinale. India, with its rapidly growing middle class and population of 1.4 billion, is drawing strong interest. “These are refined, highly educated people, with a middle class that is exploding,” Blaser added.

Technology transfer and job creation

The free trade agreement abolishes customs duties that had previously burdened Swiss exports. In return, companies from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – which includes Switzerland – have pledged to invest $100 billion (CHF80 billion) and create one million jobs in India over the next 15 years.

This ambition reflects India’s desire not to remain merely a buyer in its trade relations with the West but to become a full industrial and technological partner.

A complex and diverse market

The economic mission reminded participants that India cannot be viewed as a single, uniform market. Conditions vary significantly from region to region, and the social contrasts are stark – a country where shantytowns sit beside skyscrapers housing conglomerates with hundreds of thousands of employees.

Many Indian companies can mobilise large teams of engineers at short notice, leading some visitors from Vaud to wonder whether “Greater India” really needed Swiss expertise. But Sébastien Durbec, head of sales at the Swiss subsidiary of Tata, one of India’s largest conglomerates, believes it does.

“There are many companies in precision industries that attract Indian partners. Switzerland really has this image of precision, with its specialist expertise and niche companies,” he explained. He also highlighted Indians’ particular affection for Switzerland, well known to much of the population thanks to Bollywood films showcasing the Swiss landscape.

Challenges ahead

Despite the enthusiasm, challenges remain. Building trust will be essential, particularly in the area of intellectual property. Switzerland – a world leader in patents – will have to tread carefully in a market that has often been accused of copying existing technologies.

Isabelle Moret: it’s all about ‘opening doors’

On her return from an economic mission to India, Isabelle Moret, a member of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party, stressed on the Forum programme the importance of “opening doors” so that Vaud companies can continue to work in this market.

She pointed out that canton Vaud is resolutely focused on exports, with the European Union as its main partner, followed by the United States. But new horizons are opening up, particularly with China and India. “We need to take advantage of this period before Brussels also concludes such an agreement with India,” she insists, welcoming the free trade treaty between the EFTA countries and India, which came into force on October 1, 2025.

For Moret, the aim of this mission was to support small businesses, which often lack the resources of the large multinationals that already have a foothold here, such as Nestlé, Bobst or Reitzel. “Large companies can go it alone. For SMEs and start-ups, it’s much more difficult”, she explains. The trip was therefore an opportunity to “show the possibilities of the market” and organise meetings with key players to facilitate entry into this immense territory.

Finally, Isabelle Moret emphasises that these exchanges are a two-way street. They also aim to attract Indian investment to Switzerland by highlighting the country’s strengths. “Thanks to its bilateral agreements with the European Union, Switzerland is a gateway to the European market,” she points out. She also emphasised Switzerland’s stability and political neutrality. “If they set up a European headquarters here, they benefit from this neutrality, while having full access to the European market. The mission also served to strengthen links between Swiss and Indian innovation clusters,” she concludes.