Why India-UAE Trade Ties Matter to Everyday Lives

For the hundreds of thousands of Indians who live and work across the Emirates, and for consumers and businesses in both countries, the health of India-UAE commerce is not an abstract statistic. It shapes the flow of goods, services, jobs and investment that touch daily life on both sides of the Arabian Sea. That is why a gathering in Dubai, the Innovators and Investors Series organised by the Indian People’s Forum, put a question of broad public consequence at its centre: how the two countries can lift their trade relationship to US$200 billion in the coming years, and what that growth could mean for ordinary citizens.

Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, India’s Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, told the conference that bilateral trade has already crossed the US$100 billion mark for a second consecutive year, reaching US$101.25 billion. Both nations have agreed to double that figure to US$200 billion by 2032. “As the India-UAE bilateral trade exceeded the US$100 billion level, we now need to start creating new avenues of cooperation to double this to US$200 billion in the next few years,” he said.

The direction of that new growth, in his view, lies in areas with wide public reach. “We can see the next US$100 billion growth coming from innovation, technology, start-ups, fin-techs, renewable energy, defence and space technology,” Dr Reddy said.

The scale of India’s entrepreneurial base gives this ambition substance. The country hosts more than 797,230 start-ups, making it the third-largest start-up hub in the world. Of these, 35,500 funded companies have collectively raised US$683 billion in venture capital and private equity. India is home to 93 unicorns, and 121,969 investors have taken part in 53,521 funding rounds, with 3,136 start-ups securing early-stage funding and 918 raising late-stage funding.

The broader trading relationship remains substantial. India’s exports to the UAE exceeded US$37.35 billion, making the UAE India’s second-largest export destination and third-largest trading partner overall. Imports from the UAE stood at US$63.89 billion, with India ranking as the UAE’s second-largest trading partner.

Meanwhile, recent funding activity suggests continued momentum. In 2026, up to October, US$18.3 billion was raised across 166,000 equity funding rounds in India, compared with US$17.2 billion across 272,000 rounds in the same period a year earlier, a rise of 6.11 percent. Over the past five years, 113,624 new companies have been founded, raising more than US$13.9 billion. Indian start-ups have recorded 5,347 acquisitions and 6,531 IPOs, while 108,614 start-ups closed operations, and 23,719 companies were founded by women. Government-backed channels are also playing a role: the Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) platform has crossed 660,000 users, and start-ups have generated more than INR 51,000 crore in orders through the Government e-Marketplace.

At the conference itself, two start-ups presented their work, each addressing needs that reach well beyond the investor community. JE Plus Healthcare is tackling the distribution and logistics problems that affect the delivery of healthcare products across India, a matter of direct consequence for patients and health services. University Living helps students find cost-effective accommodation in different parts of the world, an everyday concern for families supporting education abroad. Both were seeking investment to scale up and become global enterprises.

Dr Reddy argued that deepening this investment relationship serves the wider public good in both countries. “In order to doubling our bilateral trade with the UAE, we need to create new partnerships including investment in start-ups, as India has become a breeding ground for start-ups and fin-techs who would require investment to scale up business to become global enterprises. In this case the UAE’s business leaders and investors could help cement the partnerships and help accelerate the bilateral trade to US$200 billion level,” he said.

Actor and investor Vivek Oberoi offered a note on the culture of entrepreneurship itself. “We celebrate success a lot. But we should also celebrate failure as well as it is the lessons from failure that gives us success. I have my share of failures as well,” he said. He has invested in 35 companies, some of which did not do well, though others made up for the losses. “The UAE’s investors and institutional capital could unleash exponential possibilities by investing in Indian start-ups and help them become large global businesses,” he added.

Mahesh Advani, Convenor of the IPF Business Council, urged UAE investors to back Indian start-ups in a bigger way and become part of what he called a new growth engine, with the prospect of higher returns. Piyush Jhunjhunwala, Co-Convenor of the IPF Business and Professional Council and Founder of Stockify, pointed to sectors with particular social reach. “Indian businessmen, business leaders and investors will have to look at increasing their investment in start-ups, fin-techs, especially those powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotics. By intelligent investment, they can not only multiply their wealth, but also contribute to the society and the country and help the start-ups create employment and become global unicorns,” he said.

Jitendra Vaidya, National President of the Indian Peoples’ Forum, framed the relationship in strategic terms. “The Indo-UAE relationship has reached a strategic level where two-way investment will further cement the bonding with greater benefit for both the countries. We are here to bring our diaspora to align ourselves to make sure that we contribute to the growth of the UAE-India relationship for the greater good of both the countries,” he said. The IPF, a platform for social and cultural activities involving groups from across India, describes itself as fostering a peaceful, just and prosperous Indian community in the UAE where diversity is valued and cultural heritage is nurtured.

Further detail on the conference is available at https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/events-conferences/technology-innovation-start-ups-and-fin-techs-could-accelerate-the-indo-uae-relations-to-200bln-in-the-next-few-years-1739402.

For citizens in both countries, the message from Dubai was that the next phase of this partnership will be judged not only by trade figures but by whether innovation and investment translate into jobs, better services and wider opportunity.