Trilegal Hosts Norway–India Business Forum in Mumbai: From Partnership to Proven Success Stories

Trilegal, in collaboration with the Norway-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI), successfully hosted the two-day Norway-India Business Forum at its offices in One World Centre, Mumbai. The program brought together members of the visiting business delegation from Norway and Indian industry leaders for candid conversations on the practicalities of doing business in India, real world success stories and the growing commercial ties between the two countries under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).

“The timing is right,” said Yogesh Singh, Partner at Trilegal, in his opening remarks. “With TEPA now in force and investment worth billions of dollars on the horizon, we are seeing long term confidence that creates room for ambitious collaboration. Hosting all of you at our 25th anniversary year is something we take real pride in”, he reflected on Trilegal’s scale and role in advising global companies and encouraged attendees to turn the TEPA momentum into tangible partnerships with diligent planning.

Fredrik Bjerke Abdelmaguid, Deputy Consul General of Norway in Mumbai, underlined the importance of connections alongside policy. “You can have the best frameworks, but success (in India) depends on the partnerships you build,” he said, pointing to Norway’s five strategic focus areas, trade and market access, oceans and maritime, energy, environment and sustainability, and technology. Mr Abdelmaguid noted that roughly 160 Norwegian companies operate in India today and that TEPA provides a more predictable framework for deeper engagement.

DAY 1

The Day featured fireside chats and panel discussions moderated by Trilegal and NICCI speakers showcasing cross border deals and long running collaborations across maritime, energy, technology and financial services.

Panel 1: Upasana Rao, Partner, Trilegal and Komal Dani, Partner, Trilegal highlighted the active engagement from Norwegian investors in various sectors in India and the opportunities for continued capital flows.

“Over the past decade, Norwegian investors, including sovereign wealth institutions and private funds have made significant investments across public and private markets, and many have seen a full investment cycle with strong returns. These success stories and experiences offer a strong playbook for growing investments across sectors.”, said Upasana.

“We are seeing deep Norwegian resources mix with our diversity, and with stronger, more predictable tax rules, investors are now shifting from exploring opportunities to making committed, structured investments.”, said Komal Dani. She underscored how India’s improving regulatory and tax frameworks are giving technology providers, maritime companies, and large-scale electronics manufacturers clearer pathways through joint ventures, IP licensing, and cross-border structuring.

Upasana Rao noted that the momentum is already visible across microfinance, renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and climate tech, where European-backed platforms have scaled successfully and now offer practical templates for future Norwegian participation.

The discussion highlighted specific examples of operational success:

• Statkraft’s continued expansion in renewable energy.
• Wilhelmsen and other maritime leaders’ integration into India’s shipping ecosystem.
• Technology and consumer companies scaling operations in logistics, advanced manufacturing, and green mobility.
• Norges Bank has emerged as the second largest FPI investor in India.
• Norfund enjoys tax holiday status after being notified as a sovereign wealth fund on its investments in infrastructure projects.

Panel 2: Featuring Annette Holte, Country Manager, India of Kongsberg Maritime and Nikhil Matthew, Director at VaryaTech, the session traced decades of Norway–India industrial collaboration, from early agency arrangements to the evolution of local manufacturing joint ventures. They reflected on how Norwegian companies have consistently relied on trust, strong local partnerships and long-term commitment as the foundation for success in India. The conversation also underscored how green and digital maritime technologies are now reshaping opportunities in vessel design, offshore operations and port logistics, while positioning India as a hub for advanced manufacturing and technology transfer.

Panel 3: Delivered practical guidance as panellists outlined actionable frameworks and case studies, ranging from local fund structures and IP warehousing to operating models aligned with the Make in India landscape to support Norwegian companies evaluating expansion plans.

Abhishek Daga, Founder of Nasher Miles, reflected on the strategic advantage of building in Asia, particularly India, where market depth and momentum make early consolidation especially valuable. Debomitra Sen, ICICI Bank contextualised this within India’s accelerating GDP trajectory and highlighted high-growth sectors such as electronics, medical devices and renewable energy equipment as significant opportunities for both domestic and global players. Adding a human capital lens, Rajan Maheshwari, Country Head at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), stressed the importance of responsible innovation and continuous workforce upskilling to ensure that corporate growth translates into broad-based societal value.

Closing the series, Dr. P.N.S.V. Narasimham, President & Head of Corporate Functions at Cyient, traced the company’s evolution from a small Hyderabad-based firm in 1991 into a global engineering and manufacturing platform that is expanding operations in Norway and whole of Europe. He underscored how capability-building, reliable delivery and long-term commitment have been central to Cyient’s journey, demonstrating how early pilot engagements, when executed with discipline, can mature into enduring partnerships spanning decades.

Deep Choudhuri, Partner at Trilegal, closed the session by acknowledging the strong momentum shaping the bilateral corridor. “The confidence we see on both sides among investors, innovators, and operators continues to grow. The success stories we heard today reaffirm that we have the ecosystem, the will, and the partners to turn ambition into real outcomes.”

Day 2

Day two shifted to the future, specifically, the scale of climate and sustainability challenges and the pathways to commercial solutions. The keynote by Sanmit Ahuja, CEO at Bharatia brought the room into the realities of implementing complex climate and environmental solutions in India.

He traced a fifteen year journey that began with the Ganga rejuvenation programme and grew into a national innovation engine capable of validating technologies, building manufacturing ecosystems, smoothing procurement pathways, and turning First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) pilots into Nth-of-a-Kind deployments (NOAK). For the Norwegian delegation, this conversation opened a new dimension of collaboration. Many Norwegian companies already lead globally in maritime, energy, digital systems, and sustainability. Bharatia’s model rooted in validation, local manufacturing, financing structures, and scale offers a direct pathway for these innovations to land and grow in India.

Meyyappan Nagappan, Partner, Trilegal highlighted the challenges and opportunities for Norwegian investors and companies, in the establishing and investing in climate tech solutions with India operations. “Norwegian investors and companies are best placed to contribute capital and emerging technologies which have the potential for exponential effect, not only in India but the Global South” he said highlighting that there is a huge demand for both and while there are tailwinds in the form of regulatory and tax reforms supporting climate tech investments, the critical barrier today is adapting world-leading Norwegian tech, culture, corporate governance and ESG expectations to apply to commercial realities in India. A local partner can significantly ease India entry, set up and operations.  

For the Norwegian delegation, this conversation opened a new dimension of collaboration. Many Norwegian companies already lead globally in maritime, energy, digital systems, and sustainability. Bharatia’s model rooted in validation, local manufacturing, financing structures, and scale offers a direct pathway for these innovations to land and grow in India.

The two days came together with a simple truth, successful partnerships rely on real examples, real capability, and real pathways to scale.

Across the two days, a clear thread emerged: successful partnerships depend on real capability, proven examples and credible pathways to scale.

Day 1 showcased how Norway–India collaborations have already delivered across sectors; Day 2 mapped where the next breakthroughs are likely to come from and how platforms like Bharatia are bridging technology, policy and finance.

The NICCI-Trilegal meet didn’t just celebrate what has worked, it laid down the foundations for what comes next.