Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India, visited Sweden on an official visit from 14-17 June 2017 at the invitation of Swedish Minister of Infrastructure Anna Johansson. He was accompanied by Shri Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and Shri Arun Narendhranath, OSD to Minister. India’s Ambassador to Sweden & Latvia Monika Kapil Mohta and Counsellor Vijai Kumar at the Indian Embassy joined the Ministerial delegation in interactions with the Swedish Government, City of Gothenburg and corporates in Stockholm on 14 & 15 June and in Gothenburg on 16 June. 

During the visit, Minister Gadkari held a bilateral meeting with the Swedish Minister of Infrastructure on cooperation in infrastructural development in the road transport, highways and shipping sectors in India. He briefed the Swedish Minister about the intensive infrastructural work that is currently underway and further plans to develop transport systems, roads, highways and river banks and port facilities in India. He also conveyed India’s need for the Swedish technology and expertise in these areas as well as for converting huge quantities of solid and liquid wastes available in India to produce bio-fuels to be primarily used in public transport. The Swedish Minister showed her keen interest to continue to work with India. India’s proposal to sign an MOU on road safety and transportation sector for cooperation between the two countries was also discussed.

On 14 June, the Indian Minister gave a keynote speech at the Vision Zero Conference, organized in Stockholm on 14-15 June 2017 by the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, Swedish Transport Administration and Swedish Transport Agency, with a focus on best practices, innovation and future challenges to provide new impetus to the promotion of road transport safety at the strategic level. The Minister, underlining the significance of the Conference, described several important Government policies and public-private initiatives to gradually contain cases of road accidents and resultant casualties and challenges ahead. He informed of vast opportunities available in India for Swedish collaborations in road transport and highways as well as in waterway development projects to divert traffic to ease congestion on roads and highways.

During the visit, the Minister interacted with Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg and several top representatives of relevant Swedish companies and trade agencies, including Investor AB, Volvo, Scania, Sweco, SAAB, ABB, Swedfund, and SIBC, and, emphasizing on green technology, urged the Swedish companies to come up with integrated public transport solutions, which could include funding, electric and hybrid buses, technology to convert waste into biofuels and operation of buses in India. Minister Gadkari, accompanied by his delegation, paid several site visits to - eRoad Arlanda for electrified roads; Scania in Stockholm and Volvo Group in Gothenburg to see different sustainable public bus transport solutions, including e-mobility vehicles and charging stations; and Gothenburg Port where the Minister was received by Gothenburg Mayor Ann Sofie Hermansson and given a guided tour of the Port by the President of the Gothenburg Port. The Indian delegation received presentations by the representatives of Gothenburg Business Region, Ericsson and SAAB on City planning and traffic management and role of the Swedish corporate therein in Gothenburg.

On 15 June, the Minister inaugurated the Smart City Smart Village Hackathon at Hammarby Sjostad in which over a dozen students from Sweden are competing with innovative ideas to help develop India’s smart cities and villages. Winners will be recognized during a Business Seminar on 17 August.

 In the evening of 14 June, Ambassador Monika Kapil Mohta hosted a business networking event in honour of the visiting Indian Minister. The invitees included relevant Ministers, senior government officials and business leaders from both countries, and prominent members of Indian Diaspora in Sweden.

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Stockholm, 17 June 2017