Day 2 and 3 of the NICCI business delegation to India November 2025: India’s innovation capital showed clearly why global companies build here – and why Norway had a strong presence at this year’s Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS). From frontier AI and robotics to policy briefings and a packed Norway Country Session, the stay combined learning, connections and real strategic insight. An exclusive site visit took NICCI members inside the ambition of a unicorn!
The Norway Lounge
Supported by the Norwegian Embassy, Innovation Norway and Team Norway, the Norwegian presence was highly visible and served as a base for meetings and introductions inside BTS.
ARTPARK Pavilion: applied AI, robotics and real use-cases
At the ARTPARK pavilion we had a pre-curated look at how India is commercializing AI and robotics at scale. ARTPARK – a national mission-driven initiative backed by IISc and the Government of India – develops applied solutions in mobility, healthcare, drones, robotics and AI infrastructure. More than 20 prototypes were on display, including a large autonomous drone, advanced robotics platforms and AI systems ready for deployment. It showed how quickly India is turning research into real technology.
Executive briefing: why Karnataka leads the world in GCCs
In a closed-door session for our delegates, the Government of Karnataka presented why Bengaluru has become the global headquarters for Global Capability Centers (GCCs). Karnataka hosts 30% of India’s GCCs – more than 570 centers – supported by 1.2 million skilled professionals, 50% of India’s AI talent, 18,300 startups, 21 Centres of Excellence and over 400 multinational R&D hubs.
Norway Country Session: a full room, strong speakers, clear takeaways
The Norway Country Session delivered a sharp and well-structured program on the World Stage with a full audience and representation from government, industry and research.
Opening remarks by Ambassadør May-Elin Stener and a keynote by Minister Jan Christian Vestre underlined Norway’s commitment to deeper tech collaboration with India.
1) Scaling MedTech for Global Impact
Oivi, Laerdal Bangalore, Gjøvikregionen Utvikling and SINTEF highlighted how Norwegian medtech strengths align with India’s scale for testing and deployment. Norway lack talent in the health sector – India can provide the resources.
Key points:
- India offers unmatched scale for digital health rollouts
- Norway contributes safety, quality and regulatory competence
- Good match in Talent acquisition and mobility, eg. nurses
2) Digital Public Goods and Digitalization
Norad, the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency and MOSIP presented progress on cross-border digital public infrastructure. Norway is moving from supporter to technical collaborator – and India remains the reference model.
3) Cyber Security
The Norwegian Cyber Security Cluster emphasised shared challenges and opportunities for joint competence building.
The session closed with Helge Tryti, Chair, NICCI, highlighting that health, digital public goods, cybersecurity and talent – offer immediate and scalable opportunities for India-Norway cooperation.
Evening reception at Taj Yeshwantpur
The day concluded with a networking reception hosted by Ambassadør May-Elin Stener.
Minister Jan Christian Vestre also spoke at the reception and stayed for conversations with delegates and Indian partners. He showed clear interest in the delegation’s activities, the companies present and the broader Norway-India opportunity landscape. The reception created valuable contact points across sectors and was the strongest networking moments of the Bengaluru program.
Day 2 in Bengaluru: inside the ambition of a unicorn
Through our good friend Tushar Shetty from NICCI-medlem Ideas to Impacts Hub, the delegation was granted an exclusive visit to OLA Electric – curated on-site by Abhijeet Yejge from OLA’s leadership team.
OLA Electric is one of India’s most high-profile mobility companies and a true unicorn (a privately held tech startup valued at over USD 1 billion). Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, often described as India’s Elon Musk for his integrated and fast-moving approach, the company aims to build a complete EV ecosystem under one roof – batteries, electronics, software, manufacturing and national retail.
At the Koramangala campus, we saw OLA’s product development environment and the scale the company is targeting in the world’s largest two-wheeler EV market. While OLA aims to source “everything from India”, it was evident that opportunities exist for Norwegian companies – especially in materials, battery and energy technologies, safety systems, testing and advanced industrial components.
Takeaway: India’s mobility transition is happening at speed and scale. Seeing a unicorn like OLA Electric up close showed that major shifts create supplier opportunities far beyond what a self-reliant strategy might suggest.
Stay tuned for success stories from Mumbai in our next update…