Stronger trade links with India could give the Hunter wine industry a boost.
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NSW Trade and Investment has opened five international offices during the past year, including Mumbai, to diversify the state’s coal economy.
Maitland Business Chamber president Steve Thomson said India was increasingly affluent, like China, with a growing hunger for the finer things in life.
“An emerging middle class in India has to be good for the wine industry,” he said.
“I would also expect that Maitland and Lower Hunter businesses could take advantage of that.”
Coal dominated the state’s exports in 2012/13 but softer commodity prices saw its value slip by 7.5 per cent to $13 billion.
NSW Trade and Investment aims to create more than $440 million in new exports during the next three years by growing exports of agricultural products and educational services.
India is already worth $1.84 billion to NSW but 67 per cent of that is in coal and coke exports.
“With our international engagement strategy, we are well positioned to focus on opportunities to develop our important relationship with India and to create mutual benefits in the form of jobs, export growth and new investment,” Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said.
“NSW goods exports to India have grown strongly over the last five years and India has been the State’s second fastest growing major market over this period.”
With more than 250 million people in the Indian middle class, wine could be one of the growth areas.
Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association president Andrew Margan said there was strong potential.
“It’s not a product that’s necessarily high on their want list at this time but it’s something that the Europeans enjoy and that’s something the Indians aspire to,” he said.
Indians consume only a teaspoon of wine, on average, while each Australian consumers 24 litres a year.
“India has been on the radar for a number of years, but the biggest problem is the import tax,” Mr Margan said.
“Unless the federal government can address it wine will continue to be prohibitively expensive in India.”