India - Hyderabad

Hamburg's connection to India - Hyderabad

Hamburg is intensifying its relations with Hyderabad, one of India's most dynamic metropolises and a key location for innovation and research. Building on a centuries-long tradition of economic and cultural ties with India, Hamburg is strengthening its partnership with Hyderabad specifically in future-oriented sectors such as IT, life sciences and education. A large number of skilled workers are already learning German at the local Goethe Centre in preparation for entering the German labour market.

Hyderabad's renowned "Genome Valley" is India's leading biotech cluster and a centre for pharmaceutical research and the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. Approximately 1/3 of all vaccines worldwide are produced in Hyderabad. There is great potential for cooperation in life sciences, pharmaceutical technology and the healthcare industry.

Hyderabad is also one of the country's most important technology and IT centres with its "Hitec City". The IT and AI department of Deutsche Börse established a branch there in November 2025. This offers a wide range of opportunities for collaboration in the areas of digitalisation, software development and data analysis

HamburgAmbassador Amita Desai

Portrait of a smiling woman with short grey hair sitting on a chair in a patterned orange top. — © Bishal Gurung

Amita Desai is the founder and director of the Goethe Centre Hyderabad (which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary) and Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Since 2012, she has represented the Hanseatic City of Hamburg as an honorary Hamburg Ambassador and is an alumna of the University of Hamburg. She grew up in Hamburg and studied there before returning to India.

She is also the director of the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF), one of the most important literary festivals in India. She holds numerous board and chair positions in renowned scientific, educational and cultural institutions in the country. In no small measure, she is the key architect of numerous initiatives in the fields of language, art, culture and environment.

Respected for her professionalism, expertise, dynamism and warmth, Amita Desai has made a unique contribution to the cultural landscape of Hyderabad and Hamburg over the past two decades. She has conceptualised and supported major art, music, photography, environment and gender related events including Hyderabad International Jazz Festival, World Music Day, Art Market, Women's March, Indian Photography Festival, Emerging Palette in the field of visual arts and many more.

Expertise for Hamburg

Three people in traditional Indian dress and suit in an elegantly decorated room. — Amita Desai bei Ihrer Ehrung im Rahmen der India Week Hamburg 2025 gemeinsam mit dem deutschen Botschafter in Indien und Bhutan, Dr. Philipp Ackermann, sowie der renommierten Schauspielerin Shabana Azmi.

Amita Desai was honoured during India Week Hamburg 2025 in the historic Hamburg City Hall for her decades of commitment as an honorary representative for Hamburg. She was accompanied by the German political Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Dr Philipp Ackermann, and the renowned actress Shabana Azmi. Events such as India Week Hamburg, now in its 11th edition, celebrate India's diversity and highlight the enormous potential of Asia's third-largest economy.

Amita Desai is actively involved in promoting art and culture, economic and diplomatic relations and educational exchange between the two countries. Students are increasingly focussing on Hamburg and Germany as a place to study and work, while at the same time scientific cooperation and economic relations between the two countries - particularly in the pharmaceutical industry - continue to grow and flourish. This is an encouraging sign for the development of both great nations and their continued close co-operation.

In her role as Hamburg Ambassador, Amita Desai combines the warmth of Hyderabad with the pragmatism of Hamburg - an impressive and enviable combination.