This article covers economic relations between India and Singapore: bilateral trade, foreign direct investment, the presence of each country's companies in the other, business mechanisms and cooperation in financial technology. It draws on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026.
Singapore's place in India's economic relations
According to the MEA brief of July 2026, Singapore is India's largest trade partner in ASEAN. It is also the leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India and among the largest sources of External Commercial Borrowings and Foreign Portfolio Investment.
Bilateral trade
The brief states that bilateral trade expanded after the conclusion of CECA, from USD 6.7 billion in FY 2004-05 to USD 36.1 billion in 2025-26. According to the brief, Singapore is India's 6th largest trade partner, with a share of around 2.96 % of India's overall trade.
In FY 2025-26, India's imports from Singapore were USD 24.24 billion and its exports to Singapore totalled USD 11.86 billion, giving India a trade deficit of USD 12.38 billion. The brief does not list the main goods traded.
Investment
In FY 2025-26, Singapore was the largest source of FDI into India, with FDI flows of USD 19.8 billion. Cumulative FDI inflows from Singapore to India stood at USD 194.68 billion for April 2000 to March 2026, which the brief describes as around 1/4th of total FDI inflows into India.
The top sectors attracting FDI equity inflows from Singapore are:
- Services Sector
- Computer Software & Hardware
- Trading
- Telecommunications
- Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
Companies and business offices
About 9000 Indian companies are registered in Singapore, according to the brief. In addition, 6 PSUs, 10 banks, CII and FICCI have their offices in Singapore.
During the Prime Minister's visit in September 2024, it was announced that Invest India would open an office in Singapore to facilitate investment from Singapore. Commerce and Industry Minister Sh Piyush Goyal inaugurated the Invest India office in Singapore on 22 September 2024.
More than 440 companies from Singapore are registered in India, as of July 2026.
Business engagement
During his September 2024 visit, Prime Minister Modi interacted with Singapore business leaders and visited AEM, a Singapore company in the semiconductor sector, accompanied by Prime Minister Wong.
When President Tharman visited Odisha in January 2025, several MoUs were signed between Odisha government entities and Singaporean companies in the areas of fintech, skills, green energy and industrial parks.
The report of the 3rd India-Singapore Business Roundtable was presented to Ministers at the 3rd ISMR in August 2025. According to the brief, it underlined the key role of the private sector in the partnership.
The India-Singapore Joint Working Group on Trade & Investment (JWGTI) held its 4th meeting in New Delhi on 14 August 2025. It was co-chaired by Dr Beh Swan Gin, Permanent Secretary of Singapore's Ministry of Trade & Industry, and Shri Rajesh Agrawal, Special Secretary, Department of Commerce.
Singaporean ministers have also attended business events in India:
- November 2024: Minister for Home Affairs and Law Mr K Shanmugam and Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng attended DBS Bank's anniversary event.
- November 2025: Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs Mr K Shanmugam and Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry, attended the 30th CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Visakhapatnam.
Financial technology
The brief records several cross-border fintech initiatives:
- Commercial and technical arrangements have been worked out for the acceptance of the RuPay card in Singapore.
- The link between India's UPI and Singapore's PayNow was officially launched on 21 February 2023, in the online presence of Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Lee. Singapore is the first country with which India has begun this cross-border Person-to-Person (P2P) payment facility. The brief calls the linkage a landmark development in cross-border fintech.
- ONDC - Proxtera Connectivity made Proxtera the first international buyer app connected to ONDC.
- GIFT Connect is a collaboration between the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to create a unified liquidity pool for NIFTY products in GIFT City.
- Trade Trust is an initiative to enable interoperable electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs) for cross-border trade finance transactions.
An MoU on Digital Asset Innovation was among those exchanged during Prime Minister Wong's visit to India in September 2025.