Modi, Merkel will talk technology in Bengaluru

Bengaluru Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss here on Tuesday the role of technology and innovation in manufacturing and IT services for the NDA governments Make in India and Digital India initiativesWhile Merkels trip to this tech hub from Monday night has been on cards as part of her threeday official visit to India since Sunday Modi is joining her for first hand view of the 50billion euro German auto major Bosch facility and learn how other German firms in the country will contribute to the make in India and digitise India projectsModi and Merkel will be apprised of our key innovation projects and commitments to skill development that can help the country become a manufacturing hub and a back office of the world a Bosh India official told IANS ahead of their visitAfter viewing presentations on Bosch engineering and business solutions and vocational centre both leaders will walk through its facilities and interact with its executivesBengaluru is the city where you can see how German firms like Bosch Siemens SAP BASF and MercedesBenz innovate and make in India products and solutions for its development German Consul General Jorn Rohde saidGerman President Joachim Gauck visited Bengaluru a year ago on a similar mission as the city is host to about 200 leading German firms in diverse sectorsThe visit of heads of the state to Bengaluru signifies the growing collaboration between the two countries in research and development smart manufacturing and convergence of information and communication technologies ICT Rohde notedModi and Merkel will also participate at an ICT event in a star hotel where they will interact with whos who of the IT industry including Infosys cofounder NR Narayan Murthy and Wipro czar Azim Premji and German software major SAP India executivesA large visiting German delegation including ministers and business heads will be present on the occasion to exchange views on entrepreneurship and startups to fuel our ICT products and services for domestic and global markets a top Nasscom official told IANSOrganised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies Nasscom the apex organisation of IT firms in India and the German Fraunhofer Institute the luncheon meeting is a fallowup of Modis participation at a similar event on startups during his visit to the Silicon Valley at San Jose in California US on September 27Modi has addressed at the IndiaUS StartUp Konnect 2015 event we organised in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs TiE to showcase the strength of our startup ecosystem which attracted 2billion venture funds in 2014 the official addedThe IndiaGermany meeting with Modi and Merkel will provide a boost to the Indian IT industrys engagement with German industrys 40 thrust as engineering has been the fastest growing segment in the IT industry Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar said on the eve of the eventAccording to German Ambassador Martin Ney both the leaders will focus on business ties between the two countries in the cityMerkel will meet with representatives of German firms present in the city employing hundreds of young Indians and contributing to Make in India as well as Digital India Ney told reporters in New Delhi on October 3The meeting between Modi and Merkel comes days after they met in New York on September 26 at a highpowered summit of India Brazil Germany and Japan G4 group which the Indian prime minister hosted as all the four countries are bidding for a permanent seat in the United Nations restructured Security Council