Militant Palestinian group Hamas attacking Israel has raised geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The attack has been followed by a strong retaliation from Tel Aviv and there are concerns the fight may intensify with the entry of regional players. While India's exposure to Israel is limited, a number of Indian companies do operate in the country.
Cumulative overseas direct investment from India to Israel during April 2000-May 2023 was $383 million. Indian companies are marking their presence in Israel through mergers and acquisitions and by opening branch offices.
In December 2022, a consortium of India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) concluded a major investment plan of about $785 million in Israel for the acquisition of Haifa Port Company Ltd from the Government of Israel, through its JV partnership with Israel’s Gadot Group which won the tender for privatizing the port of Haifa bid of $1.18 billion.
TCS kicked-off its operations in Israel in 2005. Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro are some other major Indian companies which made acquisitions and investments in Israel during 2015-2016. Wipro invested in TLV Partners, an Israel-based venture capital firm.
Sun Pharma acquired a minority stake in Tarsius Pharma Ltd. In 2019, Sun Pharma has collaborations with Weizmann Institute of Science and Technion Institute of Technology. L&T Technology Services opened an R&D Centre in Jerusalem and a sales office in Tel Aviv in November 2017. State Bank of India (SBI) opened a branch in the capital city of Tel Aviv in 2007.
Indian Oil Corporation launched a joint venture with Israeli startup Phinergy in March 2021. The collaboration was done to manufacture aluminum-air battery systems in India and promote green mobility through the development of fuel cells and indigenous hydrogen storage solutions.
Jain Irrigation fully acquired NaanDan, an Israeli irrigation equipment manufacturing company in 2012, followed by Sun Pharma which has a 66.7 per cent stake in Israel’s Taro Pharmaceutical Industries.
Indian major companies are also making a mark in the Israeli innovation ecosystem. In 2013, Tata Group invested $5 million in the Momentum Fund of Ramot, Technology Transfer Center at Tel Aviv University. Tata Group joined hands with several leading global players in 2016 to set up a new technology incubator, called i3 Equity Partners (i3), which focuses on developing next-generation IoT technologies
In July 2017, Reliance Industries Limited announced its investment of US$ 25 million to set up Jerusalem Innovation Incubator (JII) in partnership with OurCrowd, an Israel based leading start-up crowdfunding platform, for investing in early-stage startups over a period of eight years in the areas of big data, AI, IoT, Fintech, storage and computer vision.
In 2017, India-based Saisanket Enterprises acquired Shtula, a leading Israeli metal parts and metal device manufacturer. In 2018, India's Lohia Group acquired Israeli defense company Light & Strong. In March 2022, Ola Electric invested $5 million in an Israeli battery technology company StoreDot specializing in extremely fast charging technology, as part of its plans to manufacture advanced chemistry cells and new energy systems in India.
Source: Embassy of India, Tel Aviv, Israel. Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Business Today. Investors should consult their financial advisors before taking any position.