India-Brazil Trade May Hit $30 Bn by 2030: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
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Brazilian President Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that bilateral trade between India and Brazil could reach $30 billion by 2030 — doubling current volumes — as he addressed the India-Brazil Business Forum in New Delhi during his state visit to India. The Forum was organised by FICCI in association with DPIIT and the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, and ApexBrasil.
The declaration came against a backdrop of rapidly deepening ties. Bilateral trade stood at a mere $2.4 billion in 2006 when both nations formalised their strategic partnership. It has since risen to $15 billion — a 25 per cent increase last year alone — yet both leaders described the figure as falling well short of potential.
“The distance between Brazil and India is merely a detail in the face of the potential of friendship between our two nations,” said Lula, adding that both countries had for too long directed their commercial attention towards other countries at the expense of each other. “We have now resolved to change that behaviour.”
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal echoed the ambition but was equally candid about the gap. “Our bilateral trade, even though it grew by 25 per cent to $15 billion, is truly suboptimal,” he said. “We have to be significantly more ambitious today.”
Minister Goyal pointed to the structural complementarities underpinning the relationship — Brazil’s reserves of niobium, lithium and iron ore alongside its agricultural dominance, and India’s technological depth and manufacturing capacity. “Together we have the potential to reshape global value chains, with resources, innovation and a forward-looking vision,” he said, inviting Brazilian companies to co-invest and co-create in India.
“Brazil is a global agriculture powerhouse producing several products that help feed billions. Its aerospace, automotive and digital technology industries are rapidly evolving, offering abundant opportunities for collaboration. All of this comes together to make Brazil our strategic partner in global supply chains,” Goyal added.
The forum coincided with the signing of a series of bilateral agreements spanning bioenergy, iron ore, pharmaceuticals, trade promotion and aerospace. On critical minerals, NMDC, Vale and Adani Gangavaram Port signed a tripartite MoU to establish an iron ore blending facility under a Special Economic Zone at Gangavaram Port, valued at approximately $500 million. In pharmaceuticals, Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz and Biocon Pharma concluded an MoU for joint R&D in strategic medicines — including oncology and rare diseases — for public health systems, while BahiaFarma, Biocon Biologics and Bionovis signed a commitment agreement for the productive development of Pertuzumab, a HER-2 metastatic breast cancer treatment, covering an estimated 72,000 patients annually at a procurement value of BRL 503.4 million.
Brazilian aerospace company Embraer and Adani Defence & Aerospace formalised an MoU for the construction of an E175 regional jet final assembly line in India. ApexBrasil and FICCI also signed a cooperation agreement on trade promotion, foreign direct investment and business internationalisation.
Both leaders also struck a common chord on multilateral economic governance. “Our shared commitment to safeguarding national interests and promoting equitable access ensures that global intellectual property frameworks consider the needs of developing countries, particularly in protecting indigenous technology,” said Goyal — a position that carries particular resonance as India assumes the BRICS presidency from Brazil in 2026.
President Lula, who had earlier conferred upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross — Brazil’s highest state honour — framed the visit within the broader realignment of South-South cooperation. Brazil, he noted, had expanded Brazil’s international reserves from almost nil in 2005 to $649 billion today, a trajectory he attributed in part to the inspiration drawn from India’s own economic management during an earlier state visit.
FICCI President Anant Goenka welcomed the deepening institutional ties, noting that both nations are founding members of BRICS, with FICCI serving as the official secretariat for the BRICS Business Council in India. “India and Brazil share a partnership built on democratic values and a commitment to inclusive, sustainable, people-centric growth,” he said.
Mr Jorge Viana, President, ApexBrasil also spoke on occasion, noting that Brazil and India are two biggest democracies and economies of the global south which are destined to reach much higher trade flow.
