Singapore to deepen economic ties with India, new MoUs at ministerial meet after fresh $4.6 bn investment

The new agreements are likely to focus on areas like advanced tech, space, green energy, it is learnt. The 3rd ISMR comes ahead of a likely visit by Singapore PM Wong early next month.

Govt officials welcoming the Singapore ministerial delegation as they arrive for the third India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in New Delhi | X: @MEAIndia

New Delhi: Singapore is expected to announce a raft of new investments in India, as the South East Asian nation continues to deepen its economic engagement with India with primary focus on advanced manufacturing, green energy exports, logistics, skill training, connectivity and sustainability. This includes the $4.6 billion investment announced Tuesday.

Diplomatic sources told ThePrint that around 10 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) are being negotiated in sectors, such as advanced technologies, skills training, digitalisation, health, connectivity and sustainability, which are set to be finalised at the third India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) ahead of a likely visit by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong early next month.

The ISMR is set to be held Wednesday, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Electronics and Information Technology, set to meet with a six-member ministerial delegation from Singapore led by Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Gan Kim Yong.

“Envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, ISMR is a unique mechanism for setting a new agenda for India–Singapore cooperation…India and Singapore share a Comprehensive Strategic partnership. The 3rd round of ISMR will identify avenues to further broaden and deepen our bilateral relations,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The visit by the Singaporean delegation is significant as it comes amidst the global turmoil in trade unleashed by US President Donald J. Trump through his reciprocal tariffs. While Singapore has a baseline tariff of 10 percent, Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on India, which includes a penalty levy due to New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.

Diplomatic sources indicate that for Singapore, India remains an important economic partner, despite the ongoing redrawing of the global trade system, with the country investing roughly $159 billion in the South Asian country in the last decade. The ISMR will also likely finalise the framework for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) announced by India and Singapore last year.

Wong’s visit next month is likely to see Singaporean businesses promise to increase their annual investment in India to the tune of roughly $20 billion, from the current average of around $15 billion.

Singapore has been a heavy investor in India’s logistics sector, with Deputy Prime Minister Yong visiting two significant investments in Mumbai by Singaporean companies in Mumbai Tuesday.

He visited PSA’s Bharat Mumbai container terminal at Navi Mumbai. The PSA project in Navi Mumbai has seen the Singaporean company invest roughly $1.7 billion, which will see the container terminal eventually handle 50 percent of the total capacity at the port.

The official inauguration of the second phase of PSA’s project in Navi Mumbai is likely to take place during Wong’s visit to India. The Singaporean deputy prime minister also visited a new data centre built by CapitalLand Investments (CLI), the Singaporean firm’s largest in India.

Cooperation in the supply chain of advanced technologies is expected to be a key sector for discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Wong next month, with the ISMR looking into finalising the framework of these talks. Last year, the Indian prime minister visited the facilities of AEM in Singapore, a leading semiconductor and electronics firm.

The last round of the ISMR in 2024 had agreed that advanced manufacturing with a focus on semiconductors is set to be a key pillar of ties between the two countries.

Apart from advanced manufacturing, Singapore is also keen to invest in India’s green energy ports. Currently, a Singaporean firm has invested in the port at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, and another MoU was signed with the Government of Odisha earlier this year in the same sector.

Other areas currently likely to feature in the ISMR’s list of agreements with a view towards Prime Minister Wong’s visit include the space sector, a diplomatic source highlighted.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)