Senior political and business leaders have gathered in Melbourne for the Australia India Business Council’s annual Australia India Address, with speakers calling for stronger commercial links and fewer barriers to doing business between Victoria and India.
The 2026 event formed part of the Australia India Business Council’s 40th anniversary program and brought together more than 250 representatives from business, government, diplomacy and industry.
ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos delivered the keynote address, while Orica Managing Director and CEO Sanjeev Gandhi and Wipro Australia and New Zealand Senior Vice President and Managing Director Ketan Panchal participated in a business panel examining the opportunities and challenges facing companies operating between the two countries.
The event comes as economic ties between Australia and India continue to expand. Bilateral trade in goods and services exceeded $54.4 billion in 2024-25, with India Australia’s fifth-largest trading partner and fourth-largest export market, according to AIBC. Australia and India have set an ambition of reaching $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
The theme of this year’s address was “Beyond ECTA: Driving the Next Chapter of Australia-India Collaboration”, reflecting a focus on converting stronger diplomatic ties into commercial outcomes.
Welch recalls 15 years in India
Victorian Shadow Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Industry, and AI and the Digital Economy Richard Welch used his address to highlight his personal connection with India.
Mr Welch began his remarks in Hindi, greeting the audience with: “Namaste, aap kaise ho?”
He recalled spending about 15 years living and working in India as an entrepreneur, an experience he said had given him first-hand knowledge of the opportunities as well as the practical difficulties businesses can encounter when operating between the two markets.
Mr Welch said one of his priorities was making it easier and smoother for companies to do business between India and Victoria, arguing the relationship needed to translate into more investment, partnerships and commercial activity.
His remarks reflected a broader theme of the evening: that strong diplomatic and community ties between Australia and India now need to be matched by easier pathways for businesses seeking to enter and expand in each market.
India’s importance to Victoria has grown substantially.
Two-way merchandise trade between Victoria and India reached $3.67 billion in 2023-24, including about $900 million in Victorian exports to India. Victorian merchandise exports to India grew 51 per cent between 2018-19 and 2023-24.
Victoria is also home to the largest Indian diaspora of any Australian state, accounting for about 38 per cent of Australia’s Indian community, according to the Victorian Government.
Victorian government says state is ‘open for business’
Victorian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Natalie Suleyman congratulated AIBC on reaching its 40-year milestone and said India remained an important economic partner for the state.
“Congratulations to Australia India Business Council on 40 years of building strong trade and business opportunities,” Ms Suleyman said.
“Victoria is open for business and our strong partnership with India is creating opportunities for businesses, supporting jobs and driving investment.”
The Victorian Government’s current India strategy identifies sectors including technology, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food and agribusiness, education and healthcare as areas where the two economies can deepen cooperation.
The state maintains trade and investment offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai, while non-stop flights between India and Victoria increased from three services a week in 2019 to 13 a week in 2024.
ANZ, Orica and Wipro leaders address business opportunities
Mr Matos’s keynote brought one of Australia’s largest banks into the centre of the discussion about India’s economic growth and the opportunities emerging from closer commercial relations.
A panel featuring Mr Gandhi and Mr Panchal further examined how businesses could capitalise on the relationship, including the challenges companies face when moving between the Australian and Indian markets.
Their participation also highlighted the breadth of the commercial relationship — spanning banking and financial services, resources and manufacturing, technology and digital services.
The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, known as ECTA, entered into force in December 2022 and reduced tariffs and other barriers across a range of goods and services.
From January this year, about 90 per cent of Australian goods exports to India were entering duty-free under the agreement’s tariff reductions, according to AIBC.
Attention is increasingly turning to what comes next and how governments and businesses can convert the improved trade framework into investment and commercial partnerships.
AIBC plans India business bootcamps
AIBC National Chair Deepak-Raj Gupta OAM outlined the organisation’s view of the bilateral relationship and its plans for business engagement in India.
Mr Gupta highlighted forthcoming AIBC bootcamps in north and south India, designed to help businesses better understand opportunities and build connections on the ground.
The initiatives form part of a broader anniversary program being staged across Australia and India during 2026.
AIBC was established in 1986 through an initiative associated with then-Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
It now operates chapters across six Australian state capitals and has a presence in India, working with businesses, governments, industry groups, universities and other institutions to promote trade and investment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially launched AIBC’s 40th anniversary national program at Parliament House earlier this year.
AIBC Victoria also acknowledged chapter president Associate Professor Dhara Shah and the state committee for organising the Melbourne address, as well as its national secretariat and partners.
For AIBC, the Melbourne gathering was both a celebration of four decades of bilateral engagement and an attempt to focus attention on the next phase of the economic relationship.
With the two countries aiming for $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030, the challenge raised throughout the evening was how to turn increasingly close political and people-to-people ties into easier, faster and more substantial business between Australia and India.
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