The trade relations between India and Slovakia are on a upswing. India as the 5th largest economy in the world represents a massive opportunity for Slovakia, as a leading manufacturer in the field of engineering and automobile production.

According to Slovak Statistical Office data, in 2024, India’s import from Slovakia recorded a year-on-year increase of 23.6% to €224.9 million and India’s export to Slovakia rose by 55.3% to €1,057.0 million. Trade balance was in favour of India and reached €832.1 million. Total trade was €1,281.9 million during the year 2024, exceeding the one billion mark for the first time. In the period January – March 2025, India’s import from Slovakia recorded a year-on-year increase of 4.6% to €53.5 million and India’s export to Slovakia rose by 106.2% to €503.2 million. Trade balance was in favour of India and reached €449.7 million. Total trade was €556.7 million during the first three months of 2025. The bilateral trade figures for the last five years are:

Bilateral Trade (in € million)

        The major items of India’s export to Slovakia are mobile phones, motor vehicle parts, footwear, part of footwear, garments, tires, medicaments, seats, electrical apparatus. Major items of import from Slovakia include motor vehicles, machinery and mechanical appliances, pumps, transmission shafts, measuring instruments,  bearings.

Investment:

The major Indian investments in Slovakia are Tata Motor’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) state-of-the-art automobile plant in Nitra that manufactures two models – Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender, CK Birla Group through its company National Engineering Industries (NEI) acquired Slovakia-based Kinex Bearings, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Dhoot Transmission, Aurangabad-based wiring harness manufacturer, automotive supplier Samvardhana Motherson Group and aluminium products manufacturer Alicon Group.

Some of the important Slovak investments in India are Slovakian rail freight cars and bogies manufacturer Tatravagonka a.s., Poprad that has a joint venture with Jupiter Group, Kolkata.  Zuari Industries Limited entered into agreement with Envien International Limited of Envien Group, headquartered in Slovakia to jointly develop, construct own and operate a 150 kilo litre per day (KLPD) grain-based distillery in Uttar Pradesh and supply ethanol to oil marketing companies under the Ethanol Blending Programme of the Government of India. Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd has 9.32% stake in Inobat, an electric vehicle battery manufacturer based in Slovakia,  Edgar Baker s.r.o., a human resources company opened its subsidiary Edgar Baker Pvt Ltd in Noida,  Firearms manufacturer Grand Power s.r.o. incorporated a subsidiary Grand Power India Pvt Ltd., obtained a weapons licence from Indian authorities and plans to build a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu.

India – Slovakia Joint Economic Committee (JEC):

Indo-Slovak JEC, established in 1994 during the visit of the Slovak PM, Mr Jozef Moravcik to India, held its first meeting in Bratislava in May 1995.

The 2nd Session held in New Delhi in December, 1996, and identified several areas for enhancement of bilateral co-operation including railways, engineering and construction, electronics, telecommunications, banking, tourism, oil and gas exploration, mining, the steel industry, production of chemicals and fertilizers, textile industry, and supply of agricultural commodities and consumer goods. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Slovak Ministry of Economy and the National Centre for Trade and Information (NCTI) of the Indian Ministry of Commerce. The then Slovak Minister of Economy, Mr.Karol Cesnek, also visited India in December 1996, and had meetings with the Minister of Commerce and senior officials in the Ministries of Commerce and Defence to discuss bilateral co-operation.

The 3rd Session held in Bratislava in October 1998 and a Protocol was signed between the two countries. Simultaneously, the Slovak-India Joint Business Council was held in which 14 representatives of Indian companies participated. Subsequent to this a Slovak Business Delegation led by the President of Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited India from 11-21 November 1998.

The 4th Session held in New Delhi in April 2004.

The 5th Session held on 19 October 2004 in Bratislava. It was agreed at this meeting to exchange delegations in automobile, textile, leather, pharmaceutical sectors; organise Enterprise India exhibition in Slovak Republic; finalise BIPA, DTAA and to participate in mutual trade fairs.

The 6th Session took place in New Delhi on 13th November 2006. A protocol was signed with both sides agreeing to enhance cooperation in traditional areas and diversify the trade basket. It was also decided to organize an Indo-Slovak Business and Investment Forum in Slovakia in 2007-08. It was also decided to hold the meeting of the Joint Committee on Science & Technology in the first half of 2007. The meeting also decided to expedite the conclusion of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). An Indo-Slovak Business and Investment Forum was organized by FICCI on 14th November 2006.

The 7th Session held in Bratislava from 11-12 July 2013. The then Minister of State for Commerce Dr. D. Purandeswari co-chaired the meeting with the then Slovak State Secretary for Economy Mr. Pavol Pavlis.

The 8th Session of the Bilateral Joint Economic Committee was held in New Delhi on 25 February 2015.

The 9th Session was held in Bratislava on 21st April 2017. Ms Anita Praveen, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Mr Dusan Jurik, Director General for Strategy, Ministry of Economy co-chaired the meeting. After experts groups discussions on topics related to further development of bilateral economic and business cooperation, a protocol was signed at the end of the event. Simultaneously, business forum was also organized by Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) for the FICCI business delegation. There were 10 Indian companies and 23 from Slovakia participated. Partnership agreement between FICCI and SARIO was signed during the visit.

The 10th Session of India-Slovakia Joint Economic Committee was held on 13 February, 2019 in New Delhi. The Slovak delegation was led by Mr. Vojtech Ferencz, State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Mr. Radko Kuruc, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance accompanied with many senior officers from different Ministries/Departments in the Slovak Republic and a business delegation took part in the JEC session. Thereafter, the two State Secretaries held a bilateral meeting with Mr. C.R. Chaudhary, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The Slovak delegation also participated in the Business Forum and B2B meetings organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and CII in New Delhi.

The 11th session of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was held on 14-15 June 2023 in Bratislava. The JEC was co-chaired by Ms. Andrea Krajčíková, Director General of the Foreign Trade Policy and European Affairs Section of the Ministry of Economy and Mr. Anant Swarup, JS, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI. After working groups discussions on topics related to deepen bilateral relations between Slovakia and India, a protocol was signed by the two co-chairs.

The 12th session of the JEC was held in New Delhi in February 2025. The visiting Slovak business delegation also participated at the 26th International Engineering & Technology Fair (IETF) in New Delhi.

Visits
From India to Slovakia:
Several Indian firms are doing business with Slovak companies. During the President's visit to Slovakia in October 1996, his delegation included leading industrialists and representatives of FICCI. The business delegation had meetings with the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and individual Slovak companies, in which specific projects for co-operation were discussed. These included joint ventures for manufacture of crystal-ware in India; for finishing and marketing of textiles in Slovakia; and joint manufacture and marketing of chemicals and pesticides; as well as export of rice from India and containers from Slovakia. During the visit of the Minister for Steel and Mines to Slovakia in June 1997, he had meetings with the Slovak Minister of Economy and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the major VSZ Steel Works at Kosice in eastern Slovakia and discussed prospects for enhancement of bilateral co-operation. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, during her visit, had meetings with the Slovak Minister for Health and leading manufacturers of medical equipment, ambulances and container hospital facilities. The possibilities for increased co-operation including promotion of Indian traditional systems of medicine in Slovakia; import by Slovakia of Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals; and import by India of medical equipment, ambulances and container hospitals from Slovakia were discussed. During his visit to Slovakia in May 1998, the Union Minister for Environment and Forests Shri Suresh P. Prabhu, had a meeting with the Slovak Minister of Economy, Mr Milan Cagala.

Following the visit of an Indian delegation from the Ministry of Finance in June 1998, the Government of India Mint, Hyderabad, awarded a contract in July '98 for production and supply to India of 700 million Re 1 coins by the Slovak Mint, Mincovna Kremica. In June 1999, Kremica Mint again won an international tender for supply of 300 million Re 1 coins to India.

During her visit to Slovakia in April 2025, the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu addressed the Slovakia-India Business Forum jointly organized by the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Bratislava. The President, along with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, visited the Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover factory in Nitra.

From Slovakia to India:
The Slovak Economy Minister Mr. Lubomir Jahnatek visited India in November 2006. During his visit Mr. Jahnatek met the Minister for Commerce & Industry Mr. Kamal Nath and senior officials of the ministries for Power and Defence Production.

In October 2015 Economy Minister Vazil Hudak visited India and met Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways.

Economy Minister Karel Hirman with a business delegation focusing on innovative and smart technologies made a working visit to India on 25 - 28 March 2023. He met with his counterpart Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Energy, R. K. Singh and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises N.T. Rane.

In February 2024, Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár along with State Secretary Rastislav Chovanec participated in the specialized economic forum CII India - Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Minister Blanár also met EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defense Secretary Giridhar Aramane. An MOU between the Indian Bureau of Standards and the Slovak Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Testing was signed during the visit. More than 20 business representatives were part of the Slovak delegation.

In March 2025, Foreign Minister Blanár made his second official visit to India, accompanied by a delegation of Slovak businessmen. This trip resulted in the opening of the new Honorary Consular Office of the Slovak Republic in Kolkata, West Bengal. During his visit, he held discussions with EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He also participated in the Raisina Dialogue 2025, the CII India–Europe Business Exchange, and the Slovak Technology and Innovation Day, hosted by the Slovak Embassy in New Delhi.