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What does the EU-India free trade agreement mean for the economy? From differences in milk production to opportunities for Indian companies to India's ambitions in the global textile market—the effects are manifold.
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00:06It's a strong signal against Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policy.
00:11The EU and India have agreed on a comprehensive free trade deal
00:16that significantly reduces and in some cases eliminates mutual tariffs.
00:21But what does the deal mean economically?
00:25There have been protests by farmers against the EU's agreement
00:29with the South American Mercosur bloc.
00:31So far, there have been no protests against the India deal.
00:35The EU and India differ in areas such as milk production and textiles.
00:41Could there still be problems?
00:42Or do the opportunities for growth and investment outweigh them?
00:49Also on Made Today...
00:51K-pop helps Korean ramyun noodles conquer the world and...
00:58Eyes in the skies. Portugal develops its own drones.
01:14India and the EU have just concluded a huge trade deal.
01:18Freer and stronger trade, that's what both sides expect.
01:22But some sectors, such as agriculture, were excluded from negotiations.
01:26That means import tariffs on dairy products remain.
01:31India is the world's largest milk producer.
01:34What do farmers in India and Europe have in common?
01:36And what challenges do they face?
01:39Why do so many farmers in the Netherlands plan to quit,
01:42while India's dairy industry is thriving?
01:47Faridabad, just outside Delhi.
01:50This farm has 50 buffalo and a handful of cows and calves.
01:54It's a typical family-run operation.
01:58We've been in this business for ages.
02:00Ever since we were kids, we've had lots of buffalo, cows and goats.
02:04So we made it our profession and expanded the business.
02:07We also own land.
02:10So, if we want to expand further, there's plenty of space.
02:15Milking is done by hand twice a day, by four employees and family members.
02:21And although the work is demanding, the owner is satisfied,
02:24because India's dairy industry is growing.
02:28Unlike in the US and Europe,
02:30per capita milk consumption in India is steadily rising.
02:33From 168 litres today to a projected 196 litres by 2030.
02:42While India currently has just enough farms,
02:45Europe is facing an oversupply of milk.
02:50We visit a farmer near The Hague in the Netherlands,
02:53one of the largest milk producers in the EU.
02:56This farm has 180 cows.
02:58For decades, farmers here have been subsidised by the European Union.
03:02Frank Kaptein believes that without these subsidies,
03:06farms in Europe wouldn't be competitive at all.
03:08That's because the price of milk has dropped sharply since last year.
03:12Many of his colleagues in the Netherlands are leaving the business,
03:15but Kaptein remains optimistic.
03:18The world population of people is still growing.
03:22So everybody wants to have food.
03:26So I think there will be a golden future,
03:29but I don't know in how many years.
03:31Back to India.
03:33Dairy farmer Charan Singh has even opened his own shop.
03:37Here they sell his milk daily.
03:39If any is left over, they make yoghurt or ghee.
03:43Business is booming.
03:44Few Indian farmers run their own stores.
03:47Most deliver to dairies, for example, to Zumzum,
03:50the largest dairy in the Kashmir region.
03:56We're extremely pleased that India has crossed the 200 billion litre mark
04:00in terms of milk production.
04:05Demand has increased over the last five years,
04:08steadily increased for dairy products,
04:10particularly for packaged milk products.
04:15It's because people have become more conscious, too,
04:18with respect to hygiene, with respect to health, with respect to safety.
04:23A whole range of dairy products is produced here,
04:26from milk and yoghurt to cheese.
04:29But they don't have enough farmers who can supply them with milk.
04:32The farms are simply too small,
04:34and on top of that,
04:35the infrastructure is poorly developed.
04:39Our product is perishable,
04:44and the region we live in
04:46poses significant logistical challenges.
04:50So we're more focused on bringing value to our region.
04:57We are wholly focusing on the entire area
05:00within the Pir Panjal range
05:02and the Himalayan mountain range.
05:06While producers in India can barely keep up with demand,
05:10many farmers in Europe are throwing in the towel.
05:13Frank Kaptein can stay afloat in part
05:15because he produces cheese.
05:17The seventh-generation cheesemaker
05:19ensures the wheels spend enough time in brine
05:21and turns them several times a day.
05:24Most every step is done by hand.
05:28Kaptein must run his small farm efficiently,
05:30he's frustrated that the EU is tightening
05:33environmental regulations,
05:34like limiting how much manure can be spread on fields.
05:38I see most regulations as a challenge,
05:44especially the ones who are good for best practice farming.
05:51But there are some regulations
05:53you cannot explain to me, to you, or to my children.
05:57And those regulations are really not nice.
06:03Frank Kaptein and his brother
06:05took over the farm from their parents.
06:07They don't yet know whether their descendants
06:09will continue the business.
06:11Labour costs in Europe are much higher than in India
06:13and the larger the farm,
06:15the more employees are needed.
06:20In the farm sector, in such an economy,
06:23labour becomes more expensive
06:25and there's a lot of emphasis on developing labour productivity
06:29because that's the only way to increase your income.
06:33And if you would like to increase the income
06:35in a dairy farm, in a family farm structure,
06:38you cannot fire yourself.
06:41Strict environmental regulations and high labour costs,
06:44Charan Singh knows nothing about that.
06:46He's well prepared for disasters.
06:48For power outages, he has a generator,
06:51he has plenty of water and grows his own feed.
06:53He believes his business can still grow
06:55and recent figures back him up.
06:58India's dairy market is set to zore
07:00from $146 billion today
07:02to an estimated $274 billion by 2032.
07:08Yes, there's plenty of growth potential.
07:11The beauty of growth is that you can do as much as you like.
07:15Creating growth involves both hard work
07:17and monetary investment.
07:19As the milk supply in India is still insufficient,
07:22my suggestion is that idle people start their own businesses
07:25and boost milk production with their livestock.
07:30In Europe, some farmers would like to expand their operations,
07:34but they're finding it impossible.
07:36Prices for arable and grassland have risen sharply.
07:40And with what dairies pay for milk,
07:42many can no longer even cover their costs.
07:47For lots of farmers, it will be possible to survive
07:50with just milk production,
07:52but I really like we produce cheese as well.
07:55With the milk price of today,
07:58most farmers won't last another two years,
08:00but hopefully the milk price is going up again.
08:03Frank Kaptain remains hopeful that he can keep his dairy farm going
08:07and one day pass it and the cheese business
08:10on to his children.
08:19Also with high hopes for the future
08:21are the more than 80 Indian-owned companies in Germany,
08:25which generate annual sales of more than 16 billion euros
08:28and employ around 40,000 people worldwide.
08:33Around half these companies are based in Dusseldorf,
08:36which specifically targets Indian investors.
08:38Many are now hoping that the free trade deal with the EU
08:41will provide additional momentum.
08:47Techno Design is an Indian company based in Dusseldorf.
08:51Its employees design clothing for German and American brands
08:55as well as discount retailers.
08:57The designs are created digitally
08:59using 3D product visualization.
09:01The designed products are then manufactured
09:04in India, China and Bangladesh.
09:08Founder and CEO Rajiv Ranjan, who was born in the Indian state of Bihar,
09:13has high hopes for a free trade agreement between India and the EU.
09:19We believe that some tariffs and customs duties will be eliminated,
09:25especially in the textile sector and other areas as well.
09:29This will create a level playing field with other countries.
09:34As a result, the Indian sourcing market will become even more attractive for us.
09:39Also, I believe and hope that we will also gain access to more talent.
09:46The city of Dusseldorf has become a magnet for Indian companies.
09:51There are now around 40 of them.
09:53Behind the boom is growing economic cooperation between India and Germany,
09:58which also stands to benefit from the EU trade deal.
10:02The India Competence Center at the Dusseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce
10:06supports both German companies in India and Indian subsidiaries in Dusseldorf.
10:11Project manager Ferdinand Schlechter sees India as an increasingly important economic partner.
10:19India is a classic service-based economy,
10:22so that's where many top Indian companies can be found.
10:25But overall, the Indian economy is becoming more diversified.
10:30We also have a focus on manufacturing, industry and exports.
10:36Sushrut Lughani was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs in the city.
10:40For decades, his family business supplied the fashion retailer CNA.
10:45He hopes the trade deal will open up opportunities, but sees hurdles.
10:51Tariffs is just one aspect.
10:53We have a lot of regulation here in Europe,
10:56and many small and medium-sized companies can't comply with them.
11:01That's another kind of trade barrier,
11:04and it needs to be removed so that free trade can truly happen.
11:11Back at the design studio, here the CEO hopes the free trade deal will boost sales.
11:17He plans to double the number of employees in India to 140 this year.
11:22They'll develop AI systems for fashion design and market analysis.
11:25The company also plans to double its current purchases in India.
11:35India is also heavily involved in the latest developments in the textile industry.
11:41It has long been one of the world's largest producers of traditional fibres,
11:45such as cotton and silk.
11:48AI and digitalisation are giving the industry a whole new twist.
11:53Technical textiles are trending.
11:56But what exactly are they?
11:58And what applications do they have beyond mere closing?
12:11In five years, the global textile market could be worth almost 1 trillion US dollars.
12:16Major economies are fighting for a cut,
12:19and technical textiles are becoming increasingly important.
12:23What trends are emerging?
12:24And how does India plan to conquer the market?
12:30Threads are woven, and fabric is created.
12:33More than 400 million people work in the textile industry worldwide,
12:37a vast global workforce.
12:39But their jobs now have very little to do with the ancient craft of weaving.
12:44The first mechanical loom was invented back in the 18th century.
12:48And today, weaving looks like this.
12:51This jacquard machine weaves 10 times faster than a human ever could.
12:59The fabric that you get from a normal weaving hand loom is the same as the fabric that you will
13:05get off of a large machine like this.
13:06That's one of the things that's changed the most, is the speed of the production.
13:10But Europe, where industrialization began, has lost much of its significance as a textile production region.
13:17Really, I've been in the business for over 40 years, and I started when there was still a strong textile
13:26industry in Europe.
13:27But then, especially the clothing industry, started to reduce their cost.
13:32So they went out, and Asia is by far the strongest market.
13:36And the demand for garments continues to grow, as does the consumption of raw materials in textile production.
13:44The textile industry consumes an estimated 79 trillion liters of water every year.
13:50It accounts for nearly 10% of global CO2 emissions.
13:53And it produces around 100 billion garments annually, a scale of overproduction that's hard to ignore.
14:01More than 90 million tons of clothing are thrown away worldwide each year.
14:06Fast fashion has created a gigantic waste problem.
14:11But clothing represents just over half of all textile production.
14:15There are also home textiles, such as bedding and tablecloths.
14:21Technical textiles are becoming increasingly important.
14:24They are used in aircraft, cars, and buildings.
14:28In cars, in trains, in aeroplanes, you have technical textiles.
14:35Technical textiles you have in filters, for example, the whole filter industry.
14:40That's, again, technical textiles.
14:42Space travel even, even the suits, you have technical textiles.
14:48Technical textiles are also a key research focus at the Aachen Institute of Textile Technology.
14:54Here's one example of that work.
14:57This biaxial warp knitting machine lets us process the high-strength materials used in the construction industry.
15:06Textiles have long found their way into construction, in roofs, weather protection, and decorative facades.
15:13But using them as a structural material is another matter.
15:17Textile-reinforced concrete still isn't approved in Germany.
15:24We've been researching this for 20 years, in Aachen, in Dresden, with several universities.
15:31We're getting closer to approval, but the breakthrough still hasn't happened yet.
15:35And the last breakthrough still hasn't happened yet.
15:37Mohit Rayna also contributed to this research.
15:41He earned his PhD in textile engineering at Aachen University.
15:46Back in Mumbai, he founded his own company, which now produces textile-reinforced concrete components for the construction industry.
15:54We were the pioneers who brought this technology from Germany to India.
15:58I found it very fascinating to avoid corrosion.
16:01And in a country like India, with so much of water around, which can corrode steel in construction,
16:08we have a solution with fibres and textiles.
16:11His business aligns with economic policy in India, where the government is investing heavily in technical textiles.
16:18India comes from a background of natural fibres.
16:22The problem there is that it doesn't give you this high image and revenue or profit as you would have,
16:31for example, in technical textiles.
16:32So the Indian government has been doing a lot in the last years to promote technical textiles.
16:39In five years, India wants to control more than a quarter of global textile production and raise its share of
16:46technical textiles to 20 percent.
16:50These buildings are getting facades made of textile-reinforced concrete panels.
16:55They're considered climate-friendly because they use less material simply by being thinner.
17:01We have reduced from roughly around 8 inches or let's say around 200 mm thickness of concrete,
17:08going to just 15 mm thickness of concrete, however having a very similar durability and stability.
17:14Back to the researchers at the German Textile Institute.
17:18Here you can also see luminous fibres.
17:22They consist of a core which guides the light and a sheath which is responsible for reflection.
17:29Optoelectronic fibres are also classified as technical textiles.
17:34The textile industry has always pushed innovation.
17:39The Jacquard machine, designed to simplify weaving patterns, gave rise to the punch card and changed more than textiles.
17:48The Jacquard card shows us how the machine was told to go up and down,
17:53which then translates to later to the use of binary in computer sciences for ones and zeros.
18:00The textile industry inspired the computer.
18:03From industrialization to digitalization, the world owes many innovations to the textile industry.
18:15And now to a completely different new trend from Asia.
18:18K-food from South Korea, or more specifically, K-ramyun.
18:23These slightly thicker and often spicy instant noodles are inspiring enthusiasm for Korean culture worldwide.
18:31The collaboration with the film K-pop Demon Hunters has reinforced the boom.
18:36Ramyun noodles are being eaten more and more in Europe too.
18:39It's nothing short of galactic.
18:44Almost 5 million packs of noodles.
18:47That's how much Ramyun, Nongshim's flagship Bumi facility, produces each day.
18:53And despite additional factories in China and the U.S., it's still not enough.
18:58So Nongshim upgraded, implementing AI in production and together with further plant expansion,
19:04meet a global demand driven by taste, health, movies and music.
19:12The cultural elements, the health-seeking trend from consumers and, thirdly, industrial foundations
19:18that turn these elements into an industry are all intertwined, which is why I believe it
19:23will be sustainable in the long term.
19:30While South Korea's Ramyun has seen steady growth in exports over the years, deals involving
19:35Hallyu, Korea's cultural wave, and most recently a tie-in with the film K-pop Demon Hunters, have
19:42served to boost brand visibility.
19:46Not to be confused with saltier soy-based Japanese ramen, bags of ramen dried snack can be found
19:53in Asian shops all over Europe.
19:55Just add hot water, of course.
19:57But the popularity of Korea's noodles began at home.
20:01Lim Soo-Min eats ramen twice a week with her kids, much like she had years ago with her parents.
20:10It's a simple meal, and enough, and K-dramas are popular, so a lot of people seem to be
20:15watching it.
20:16I think Ramyun is delicious, but it's also cheap and filling.
20:24South Korea's ramen exports have doubled over the past five years, to more than $1 billion
20:30a year.
20:31And overall, South Korean food exports, including spicy rice cakes and seaweed rice rolls, have
20:37grown more than 20% in 2025, to nearly $9 billion annually.
20:44There are also many healthy ramen options available, so it's the perfect meal.
20:48Oh, and these days, because it's a bit spicy, it might be addictive, which is why it's so
20:53popular worldwide.
20:58K-ramyun is constantly evolving now, including various flavors such as kimchi and Korean chicken.
21:05Ramen can be so spicy, one brand was once banned in Denmark.
21:10In South Korea, it's sometimes added to rice, and now abroad put on hamburgers.
21:22Now, we're taking to the skies.
21:25Drones have made aerial photography affordable and commonplace.
21:29They film fascinating landscapes, monitor infrastructure and agriculture, transport medicine, and serve
21:37military purposes.
21:38The further development of drones is increasingly shaped by digitalization and artificial intelligence.
21:45Their applications are becoming more diverse.
21:48As a result, the market is growing, with countries such as Portugal now getting involved.
21:58By catapult vertically or like a normal airplane, Techevere's drones can take off whichever way
22:05the mission requires.
22:06The unmanned aircraft monitor the English coastline, track pollution in the Mediterranean, and even
22:12observe tank movements in Ukraine.
22:14But the company's beginnings were quite different.
22:18We were absolute geeks and nerds.
22:20Up until 2008, it was primarily a software-based business.
22:25Our customers were banks, telecoms, healthcare companies.
22:29Ricardo Mendez and his university friends were already working with artificial intelligence
22:33back then.
22:34They wanted to make everything interconnected.
22:37Eventually, flying hardware entered the picture.
22:39Techevere challenged established aircraft manufacturers and grew into a serious competitor
22:44in the drone market.
22:46Well, if we're a software AI communications company, actually we have the right to play
22:55and to win in this market and to build something very different.
23:00At first glance, the drones look like small airplanes.
23:04Nothing obviously revolutionary.
23:06Their secret lies inside.
23:07The components were not allowed to film and the software running in the background.
23:11Techevere's approach is to let an AI-powered virtual pilot fly along.
23:16The drones can reach their destination and return even without GPS.
23:23You can use the cameras, you can use radars, you can use signals of opportunity from radio
23:28frequency to understand where you are if you don't have GPS or communication.
23:35AI also analyzes the data the drones collect, helping users make informed decisions.
23:42More than 100 employees work solely on AI development.
23:46The drones from Portugal fly missions around the world and for years they've been helping
23:51in Ukraine, keeping a close eye on Russian invaders and passing on enemy positions.
23:57Techevere is benefiting from a shift in awareness across Europe and globally.
24:03That things have changed on the field and that unmanned capabilities, autonomous capabilities,
24:09are central to military operations.
24:12For decades, Portugal was viewed mainly as Europe's low-cost manufacturing base.
24:17The fact that high-tech companies now help shape the country's image is due to education.
24:22In recent decades, more and more highly skilled engineers have graduated from Portuguese universities.
24:27Portugal is colorful, hip and successful.
24:30A tourist magnet, attractive to foreign investors, with an economy that continues to grow.
24:36The transformation accelerated after the 2010 economic and financial crisis.
24:41Now we have a very high-skilled, entrepreneurial new generation that is not only building new projects as entrepreneurs,
24:51but also bringing new management skills to the economy.
24:57Techevere offers skilled jobs even outside the major cities of Porto or Lisbon.
25:03Last year the company delivered more than 200 complete systems, each with multiple drones.
25:08The CEO won't say whether Techevere will still be building drones in 10 years.
25:14We started in the aerial domain because we believe it's where we can make the most difference,
25:20but there's a tremendous opportunity to bring these technologies into ground, into water,
25:26surface, underwater, into space where we are present as well, etc.
25:30So it's really a continuum.
25:34Techevere is currently one of Portugal's most exciting companies
25:37when it comes to combining hardware and artificial intelligence.
25:44And that's all from us this time on MADE.
25:46Today we covered free trade between the EU and India,
25:49differences in milk production,
25:51what Indian-owned firms in Germany are hoping for,
25:55and how the textile industry is developing.
26:00All topped off with some ramyun noodles.
26:03Bon Appetit.
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