What does it take to make an already strong business corridor considerably stronger?

That was the question at NICCT India’s inaugural Leadership Roundtable, held in Mumbai on 24 August and hosted by KPMG in India.

With the establishment of the India Board, NICCT becomes a genuinely bilateral institution — led from both ends of the corridor rather than one. The format was deliberate: rather than a large public launch, we brought a small group of business leaders together with senior representatives of India’s Ministry of Commerce and DPIIT and the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Mumbai, for a closed-door working conversation.

Participants mapped where the opportunities are emerging — energy transition, maritime and logistics, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, agriculture and food systems, digital technologies — and the India–EU FTA adds a further dimension, giving companies a window to prepare.

They were equally candid about what stands between opportunity and execution: GST and customs, regulatory clarity, documentation, standards, mobility, and the long distance from policy to implementation.

That is where NICCT India can build something distinctive — a trusted channel where companies raise practical friction openly and government responds directly.

The Roundtable closed with a clear first agenda: FTA readiness, a stronger collective business voice, tackling implementation bottlenecks, and building a meaningful membership platform. Participants did not simply name the challenges — they volunteered to take the work forward.

The next chapter is not about creating this corridor. It is about making it more connected, more predictable and significantly more valuable on both sides.

With thanks to KPMG in India for hosting, and to our colleagues in government and across the business community.