Czech Industry Minister Leads 50-Company Delegation to India to Deepen Trade and Ease Market Entry

The Czech Republic is turning its attention eastward. On 8 October 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed that Minister Karel Havlíček will leave for India on 12 October at the head of a 65-member delegation representing more than 50 Czech companies across aviation, transport engineering, clean-tech, IT and advanced manufacturing sectors. Over four days the delegation will visit Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, holding three business forums organised with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and dozens of pre-arranged B2B meetings. According to the ministry, the mission is the largest Czech commercial visit to India since 2018. Background discussions with CzechTrade officials indicate that Indian demand for rail-modernisation technology, urban-mobility solutions and small nuclear reactors has risen sharply since India adopted its “Make in India 2.0” industrial policy last year. Czech suppliers see an opportunity to position themselves as niche technology partners rather than high-volume manufacturers, and the government hopes that minister-level access will shorten notoriously long Indian procurement cycles. For mobility managers the trip matters because it will lay the groundwork for simplified business-travel channels. The Czech Embassy in Delhi will host a “fast-track visa day” during the mission, and both governments will explore expanding the existing priority-business-visa scheme that currently benefits only large multinationals. If agreed, mid-sized Czech exporters could gain guaranteed interview slots and 5-day processing for Indian business-visitors heading to Czech plants or training centres. Corporate mobility teams should also note the soft-landing measures announced by CzechInvest: a dedicated help-desk for Indian investors opening Czech entities and a one-stop service for work-permit conversions from short-term Schengen visas. The ministry says it will evaluate the effectiveness of these measures in Q1 2027 and could make them permanent if demand is strong. In practical terms, travel managers should prepare for a spike in air-ticket requests between Prague and India this winter and advise travellers to carry hard copies of invitation letters—the Indian Bureau of Immigration still requires them at secondary inspection, even for conference visas. Employers hosting Indian partners in Czechia should also monitor the Entry/Exit System (EES) rules, which now flag overstays automatically at Schengen external borders.