Germany first country to open consulate general in Bangalore

According to a press-statement issued by the German Embassy, “Germany will be the first country to have its consulate general in the Information Technology (IT) capital of India. There are already more than 120 German companies or Indo-German joint ventures in Bangalore.”

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, will fly to Bangalore today, to open the first consulate general in the city, the statement said.

While news reports indicate, the Bangalore consulate general will issue both German and Schengen visas, the official website of the consulate general, indicated otherwise, as of the time of this article. The website continues to direct all consular services to the German consulate general in Chennai.

Full contact details of the Bangalore consulate general of Germany can be found here.

Germany has a long presence in Bangalore with large companies like auto component major Bosch (formerly MICO). Lufthansa was one of the first airlines to operate to Bangalore. The consulate general in Bangalore is long overdue, and will provide a boost to Germany's efforts to obtain investments in Germany by technology companies, who are already being wooed, strongly, by Belgium.

As the United States, the largest market for the IT majors, is being buffeted by economic turmoil, they are expected to focus more on Europe. Germany’s IT services market is worth $40~45 billion, second in Europe after the United Kingdom.