Norwegian Companies in India: Business Opportunities, Trade and Hiring in 2026

Norwegian companies in India are having a moment, and there is a clear reason for it. On 1 October 2025, the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, known as TEPA, came into force.

Norway helped negotiate it for sixteen years, and the payoff is large: the four EFTA states pledged USD 100 billion of investment into India over fifteen years and set a goal of one million direct Indian jobs.

For a Norwegian business weighing an India move, the question has shifted from whether the market is worth it to how fast you can get a team on the ground.

This guide covers what Norway based companies in India are doing right now, which firms already operate here, where the sector opportunities sit, and the practical routes to hiring or setting up.

If you plan to build an Indian team without spending a year on a legal entity, the section on hiring through an Employer of Record is the one to read closely.

Norwegian Companies in India: The Current Landscape

Norway’s footprint in India is older and broader than most people assume.

A long-cited estimate from the Norwegian Business Association put the number of Norwegian companies in India at around 90, and that base has only grown as bilateral ties deepened.

The names are not small. Equinor, Norway’s state-backed energy major with about 22,000 staff across 30 countries, works on India’s energy transition.

DNV, the assurance and risk house active in more than 100 countries, runs large operations here. Jotun, the marine and protective coatings maker, has manufactured in India for years.

Statkraft, Norway’s biggest power generator, built renewable capacity in partnership with Indian players. Add Yara in crop nutrition, Kongsberg in maritime and defence technology, Aker Solutions in oil services, Elkem in silicon materials, DNB in banking, and Norfund as a development financier, and you have a spread that touches energy, shipping, chemicals, finance and food.

Maritime is the historical anchor. Norway runs one of the world’s largest merchant fleets, and shipping, crewing and marine services have long been the biggest single slice of Norwegian activity in India. That link is getting stronger, not weaker. During the May 2026 India-Nordic Summit in Oslo, it was noted that close to 10 percent of Norway’s ships are now built in India, and Indian yards are bidding for more.

The India-EFTA TEPA and What it Changes for Norwegian Businesses in India

TEPA is the practical reason this topic is worth your attention in 2026.

Three things matter for a Norwegian company. First, tariffs. From day one, roughly 42 percent of Norwegian exports to India became duty-free. That climbs to about 85 percent after five years and around 92 percent after ten.

Machinery, precision instruments, medical devices, seafood and specialty foods are the obvious winners. For Norwegian salmon in particular, the timing is sharp: the UK’s competing deal with India is not yet in force, so Norwegian and Icelandic seafood gets a tariff head start in a market of 1.4 billion people.

Second, services and mobility. Norway secured commitments across 114 services sub-sectors, and the agreement opens mutual recognition tracks for professional qualifications.

The foreign-capital ceiling in Indian banking was lifted from 51 to 74 percent, which matters for financial-services entrants. Third, investment plumbing. An India-EFTA Desk has run inside Invest India since February 2025 as a single window for EFTA investors, prioritising renewable energy, life sciences, engineering and digital transformation. If you want one official starting point, that desk is it.

The number to remember

USD 100 billion of EFTA investment is committed to India over 15 years, split into USD 50 billion in the first decade and USD 50 billion in the following five years, with a one-million-jobs target attached. This is the first time India has tied an FTA to an explicit investment-and-jobs commitment.

Why Norway-Based Companies in India Keep Expanding

Beyond the treaty, the underlying pull is demographic and structural. India is the fastest-growing large economy and is on track to be the world’s third largest.

About 65 percent of its 1.4 billion people are under 35, which gives a Norwegian employer a deep, young and English-comfortable hiring pool.

The cost arithmetic is favourable too. A specialist team in India often runs at a fraction of Oslo or Stavanger payroll for comparable skills, which is why so many Norwegian businesses treat Indian talent as a strategic asset rather than a cost play.

Trade and capital flows back this up. India-Nordic trade reached about USD 19 billion in 2024 and has grown roughly fourfold in a decade, with Nordic investment into India up around 200 percent over the same period.

India’s merchandise exports to Norway rose from USD 270 million in 2014 to USD 439 million in 2025, and India’s services exports to Norway hit USD 876 million in 2024. The direction of travel is steady and upward, which is exactly the backdrop a long-term entrant wants.

There is also a quieter, very large investor in the room. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund at roughly USD 1.77 trillion, holds stakes in about 550 Indian companies.

Norway’s share of foreign portfolio investment in India climbed from tenth place in 2016 to seventh by 2025, and its FPI share nearly doubled to 3.87 percent. When the single largest sovereign investor on earth keeps raising its Indian exposure, it tells corporate boards in Oslo that the country risk is acceptable.

Sector Opportunities for Norwegian Companies in India

The strongest fits line up with what Norway does best and what India is buying most. These are not generic. Each one has a live collaboration track.

Renewable Energy and the Green Transition

India targets 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and had already reached roughly 50 percent of installed capacity from non-fossil sources by mid-2025, five years ahead of its Paris commitment.

Norway brings hydropower depth, offshore-wind engineering and grid know-how. Norfund, Norway’s development financier, is actively channelling capital into Indian renewable projects, and Statkraft has operated here for years.

For Norwegian developers, EPC firms and clean-tech suppliers, this is the largest single opening.

Maritime, Shipbuilding and the Blue Economy

This is the most Norwegian opportunity of all. The two governments run a Blue Economy Task Force and a Green Partnership covering green-shipping, hydrogen and ammonia propulsion, and electrified port equipment.

With Indian yards already building around a tenth of Norway’s fleet, there is room for design, marine equipment, classification and crewing partnerships. Kongsberg and DNV are natural anchors here.

IT Services, GCCs and Digital Engineering

India’s technology sector reached about USD 283 billion in revenue in FY25 and employs roughly 5.8 million people, with more than 1,750 Global Capability Centres now operating in the country.

For a Norwegian software, fintech or industrial-tech firm, India is both a delivery base and an engineering-talent reservoir. Many enter by hiring a small India team first and scaling once the model proves out. If that is your path, compare the GCC route against an EOR before committing capital.

Seafood, Aquaculture and Food Processing

TEPA gives Norwegian marine exporters duty advantages on products like salmon, and opens cooperation on aquaculture technology, cold-chain and sustainable fisheries.

Mowi-scale supply expertise paired with India’s growing premium-protein demand is a clean commercial fit, sharpened by the tariff timing against UK competitors.

Healthcare, MedTech and Life Sciences

India’s healthcare spend keeps rising, and the India-EFTA Desk lists life sciences as a priority. Norwegian medical-device, diagnostics and health-tech firms can use TEPA’s intellectual-property chapter to protect proprietary technology while accessing a vast patient base and a low-cost manufacturing route under Make in India.

Why Norwegian Companies Hire Indian Talent

Strip away the treaty language and most India moves start with people. Norwegian firms hire here for three blunt reasons: the skills exist at scale, the cost is lower, and the workforce speaks English and works well across time zones.

Engineers, software developers, researchers, finance and shared-services professionals are the common hires. A growing number of Norwegian companies now run their India team as a permanent capability rather than an outsourced contract, which changes the setup question from “who do we outsource to” into “how do we employ people directly and compliantly”.

How to Set up or Hire in India: Entity, Subsidiary or EOR

There are three realistic routes, and the right one depends on team size, timeline and appetite for compliance work.

• • Set up a subsidiary: A private limited company gives you full control and is the right call once headcount and revenue justify it. It also means company registration, statutory filings, payroll infrastructure, and ongoing India compliance. Expect months, not weeks. See the Indian subsidiary setup guide for the full process.
  • Engage independent contractors: Fast and light, but it carries permanent-establishment and misclassification risk if a contractor effectively works full-time for you. Workable for short projects, risky as a long-term staffing model. The independent contractor route explains where the line sits.
  • Hire through an Employer of Record: An EOR legally employs your India staff on your behalf, handling payroll, EPF and ESI contributions, gratuity, tax withholding and labour-law compliance, while your team reports to you day to day. You get a compliant India workforce in weeks with no entity. For most Norwegian companies testing the market or running a team under 20 people, this is the fastest and lowest-risk option.

Not sure which fits your budget? The EOR cost calculator for India gives a fully-loaded estimate covering payroll, benefits, taxes and support, so you can compare the EOR path against running your own entity before you commit.

Challenges Norwegian Companies Should Plan For

India rewards preparation. The recurring friction points are regulatory complexity, a statutory framework (EPF, ESI, gratuity, TDS, the new Labour Codes) that differs sharply from Norway’s, and the gap between a signed treaty and on-the-ground execution.

None of these are dealbreakers, but they are why most successful entrants either build local compliance expertise or partner with a provider who already has it. Going in with a realistic timeline and a compliant employment structure removes most of the early pain.

How Remunance Helps Norwegian Companies in India

Remunance is an India-focused Employer of Record that lets global companies hire, pay and manage full-time employees in India without setting up a local entity.

We handle HR, payroll, statutory compliance and benefits so your team can focus on building the business.

For Norwegian companies acting on the TEPA opportunity, that means a compliant India team in weeks instead of a year-long entity project.

If you would rather talk it through first, get in touch with our team and we will map the cleanest route for your headcount and timeline.

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