Kolkata, Jan 15 (IANS): With the Chinese market becoming more competitive and growth slowing down, Australia is eyeing collaborations in 14 industry sectors in India prioritising services, mines and agro as key areas, an Australian government official said.

"Growth is falling in China, competition in China has much grown and over the next decade, the growth is going to be in India", commercial counsellor of the Australian Trade Commission Gregory Harvey told IANS here Wednesday.

Harvey said the Chinese have "gone to capacity" and the recent changes in the industrial outlook in India makes it a favourable country for the Australian firms to seek collaborations and investment.

"One of the things in mining here is the amount of resources", he said.

Recently, Australian trade and investment minister Andrew Robb said signing the free trade agreement with India is a priority.

"The time is right for Australian companies to seek collaborations in India. Specifically, dairy sector is important for us in agro business besides mining which holds huge potential", commercial counsellor Harvery said.

India is the largest producer of milk globally and holds investment potential for technological upgradations as well as product diversification.

Harvey said Australian firms can help Indian milkmen to diversify their product range as well as optimise the production of milk.

According to Harvey, Australia is the world leader in production of key mineral commodities, namely iron ore, bauxite, alumina, gold, zinc and several others.

"Our technological expertise can help Indian mining companies at various levels. There can be partnerships as well as joint-ventures," he said.

However, most of the initial mining collaborations are expected to happen in the SME segment followed by the PSUs.