The 17th session of the India-German Joint Commission on Industrial and Economic Cooperation (IGJC-IEC) met in New Delhi on September 23, 2010 and drew up further areas of cooperation between the two countries. The Indian side was led by its finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee while the German side was led by its minister of economics and technology, Rainer Bruderle. Bruderle urged for investment by Indian industries in Germany and German industries in India as both the countries have come out of the recent financial crisis successfully and have greater scope of cooperation in the areas of energy including renewable energy and infrastructure sector among others.
India has set a target of 30,000 MW power generation from renewable energy sources, including 20,000 MW through solar power by 2022. German companies are well known for their technology and innovation in these sectors and this could be another possible area for joint collaboration.
The last session of IGJC-IEC was held in Berlin in September 2007 and the !7th session which became due in 2009 could not be held in that period due to polls in India and Germany. Due to the growing importance of cooperation between the two countries talks are underway to schedule the meeting of IGJC-IEC every year instead of once in two years. Apart from IGJC-IEC meetings there are several institutional arrangements like a strategic dialogue at the level of the National Security Adviser and a joint working group on counter-terrorism to discuss various bilateral and global issues of common interest.
It has been announced celebration of the Year of Germany in India in 2011-12 and the Year of India in Germany in 2012-13.
The joint working groups under IGJC-IEC have increased to seven (tourism, coal, automotive, agriculture, vocational education and training, infrastructure- I, infrastructure-II) from the earlier three which indicates that both the countries have expanded their areas of cooperation. Vocational training and agriculture have emerged as key areas of collaboration. It has been agreed to expand the mandate of the joint working group on agriculture to include issues related to consumer affairs. The joint working groups on infrastructure and tourism would be soon revived.
Germany is India's largest trade partner in Europe. During the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2007, both sides set a trade target of Euro 20 billion to be achieved by 2012. In terms of foreign direct investments (FDIs) inflows into India in 2009, Germany was the eighth largest investor with inflows of $599.93 million. Indian investment into Germany has also increased in recent years. Indian FDI inflows into Germany, measured in terms of equity capital, increased from Euro three million to Euro 33 million during 2004-08. Several Indian companies have purchased companies in Germany and they employ nearly 12,000 people, mostly Germans and thereby contribute to the German economy. Over two hundred thousand tourists from Germany visited India last year.
There are, however, some irritants in the way of India-German cooperation. India public sector undertakings (PSUs) are facing difficulties due to denial or delay in issuance of export licenses by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) to German companies supplying specific technology equipment or material to India.

Indian companies in Germany, particularly in the IT sector, face difficulties in obtaining work permits for their professionals. The process is lengthy and at times they find it difficult to get visas for their spouses. The unpredictability in obtaining work permits causes problems with the Indian companies' clients in Germany who do not appreciate delays.

Indian producers and exporters of pharmaceuticals (especially of active pharmaceutical ingredients) face difficulties in exporting their products to Germany due to amendments in the German Code of Medical Law. The India side had proposed an Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) certificates which needs to be concluded at the EU level be effective.

German authorities do not refund VAT for Indian business and industry operating in Germany. German side expressed inability to provide reciprocity of VAT refund, which would allow to grant VAT refund for Indian companies in Germany, due to varying practices in several states in India. It has, therefore, been proposed to the Indian fiancé ministry to consider possibility of working out a limited VAT refund on mutual reciprocity for participation in trade fairs by companies from both countries.

There are also market access problems affecting Indian exports to Germany and other countries of the EU. Indian exporters face the problems in exporting meat and meat products (due to alleged prevalence of foot and mouth disease in Indian cattle) and also in exporting meat and meat products, bovine animal casings, ovine, caprine casings (due to categorization of India as Geographical Risk Status (GBR) - II for BSE by the European Union. Indian exporters feel the problems of exporting milk products on account of residues of Veterinary Medical Products (VMPs). There are also problems in exporting grapes, gherkins on account of differential norms for maximum pesticide residue levels (MRLs) followed by different member states of the EU and the frequent reduction in MRLs of pesticides and antibiotics without giving adequate notice. The EU stipulation that the herbal products should have a proven use of 30 years of which 15 years should be in the EU, hinders market access for Indian ayurvedic products.

The German side has alleged bureaucratic hurdles and procedural delays in India, labour market rigidities and relatively high taxes, unsatisfactory infrastructure, reservation for small scale sector hampering growth, cap on FDI in banking and insurance sector, complicated tax regime, insistence of documents that are generally not insisted upon by similar authorities in developed countries, inconsistencies in classification of products as per different laws and regulations which make the approval and taxation processes extremely complicated, uncertainty relating to introduction and applicability of VAT across Indian states and the extent of sales tax liability attributable to sales in certain states, lack of uniformity in the VAT laws prevalent in different states, tax credits are not available in case of inter-state sales, thereby making it a cost to the transaction. At present, the duty is required to be paid for each import before clearance of imported goods. Often, the process of releasing imported goods from custom-bonded warehouses gets delayed, till the correct duties on them are calculated and paid.

The German side also alleged complicated Foreigners Registration Act and problems in getting Employment Visas to India.