Italy Seeks Stronger Trade Ties with India: Italian Minister

Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has urged a deepening of trade relations with India, spotlighting the robust governmental ties between the two nations. Speaking via video at the ‘Vinitaly’ India Roadshow—a two-day trade fair that began Saturday in New Delhi—he emphasized consolidating “reciprocal trade relations” to bolster mutual exports. The event, organized by Veronafiere with the Indian Chamber of Commerce and backed by the Italian Embassy, showcases Italy’s premier winemakers and aims to expand their footprint in India’s growing wine market.

Lollobrigida hailed ‘Vinitaly’ as a platform for Italian wine companies to connect, discuss, and advance the industry. Italian Ambassador Antonio Bartoli, addressing a gala dinner, traced the historic pepper-and-wine trade along the Golden Road between Rome and India, calling the Roadshow a revival of this legacy. “We’re not reinventing something… we’re revamping it,” he said, noting a steady 6% annual market growth since 2017. Italy holds a 17% share of India’s imported wine market, valued at USD 33 million, within a USD 418 million industry led by domestic wines (50%).

Prominent Italian wine groups like Piemonte Land of Wine, Italia del Vino Consorzio, and Angelini Wines & Estates are engaging in B2B meetings with Indian importers and HoReCa managers during the Roadshow. Participants are invited to the 57th Vinitaly in Verona, April 6-9. Italy, the third-largest wine supplier by value and second by volume (one million liters), sees sparkling wine sales poised to double to USD 20 million by 2028, per the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory.

This push aligns with an impending India-EU free trade agreement, announced by PM Narendra Modi and EC President Ursula von der Leyen, expected by year-end. For Italy, it’s a “win-win” to tap India’s potential and strengthen economic bonds.