India Sees Major Partnership Opportunity with Canada in Critical Minerals, Clean Energy & AI: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal has said that India sees major opportunities for collaboration with Canada in critical minerals, clean energy, nuclear energy, mineral processing technologies, and supply-chain diversification. Addressing the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber in New Delhi, he highlighted India’s strengths in emerging technologies such as AI, quantum computing, machine learning, and next-generation data centres, backed by the world’s largest pool of annual STEM graduates.

Goyal noted that India and Canada remain strong partners rooted in democratic values, mutual trust, and growing engagement across trade, investment, and technology. Referring to the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the G20 Summit, he said both leaders agreed to start negotiations for a high-ambition Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and double bilateral trade by 2030.

He underlined that India’s 500 GW power grid, half of it clean energy, provides the resilience needed for AI-driven infrastructure and positions India as a reliable partner for sustainable energy. He also highlighted the rising Canadian investments in India, particularly through pension funds, and growing interest from Canadian companies.

Emphasising India’s strong economic fundamentals, Goyal said the country has moved from the “Fragile Five” to being among the world’s top five economies and is on track to become the third-largest economy within the next 2–2.5 years. He cited low inflation, strong forex reserves, infrastructure expansion and a vibrant capital market as key drivers, noting that India’s stock market has grown 4.5 times in the last 11 years.

Goyal proposed a five-pronged strategy to boost ties, including converting dialogue into delivery, revitalising the CEO Forum, strengthening innovation partnerships, and increasing collaboration in critical sectors such as minerals, clean energy, aerospace, defence and manufacturing under Make in India. He invited Canadian companies to partner with India in its journey toward becoming a developed nation by 2047.