Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India is in “deep negotiations” with Australia for a $500-billion plan to construct 1 million homes, with the UAE being approached for financial support. The proposal involves sending Indian workers to Australia for training and housing construction to help address the country’s supply-demand mismatch and soaring real estate prices.

Speaking at a CII event, Goyal called it a major opportunity for Indian industry and global partnerships, while also highlighting ongoing trade talks with Australia, Oman, and efforts to resolve tariff issues with the US.

Goyal did not elaborate on details of the project, like the location in Australia, the exact spending by Canberra on it, or India’s role in the project.

Goyal said New Delhi is proposing to allow Indian workers to go to Australia, get trained on the necessary skill sets required to build homes as per local standards and create the housing.

According to some reports, there is a mismatch between demand and supply in Australia, which is blamed for the high home prices in the country. Housing was also among the important issues in the recently concluded national elections.

Having pegged construction of 1 million homes as a $500 billion opportunity, Goyal said he has reached out to the UAE – a significant investor in Indian real estate – to help on the financial front.

In remarks made during a meeting with a visiting trade delegation from the UAE, led by Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Goyal said he has also put forth a proposal for partnership to the Gulf nation.

“I talked to Thani to see if we can do a partnership to help us fund this massive opportunity,” the Union Minister said.

Goyal said countries around the world are looking up to India for tie-ups and added that we need to seize such opportunities.

“It’s for us to grasp these openings. If we miss out, we will have only ourselves to blame,” Goyal said, addressing the event organised by domestic industry grouping CII.

India and Australia are also negotiating a free trade agreement, and New Delhi has also been publicly backed by Canberra after being slapped with 50 per cent tariffs by the US.

India is engaged in a dialogue with the US to resolve the “issues” with the US, the Union Minister said.

Making it clear that India will be undeterred in the face of the US action and will scout for newer markets for its goods, Goyal said the country’s exports will grow over the $825 billion in FY25 despite the tariffs in one of its most important markets setting-in from August.

Listing out the progress on the trade negotiations front, Goyal said he is aiming to sign a balanced and mutually beneficial deal with Oman in the next two weeks.