Deepening India - UK Trade and Economic Ties

The India - UK Annual Summit organised by CII on 17 September 2021 set the tone for further deepening trade and economic ties between the two nations. India is UK's second largest FDI contributor and UK accounts to about 6 percent of FDI in India. At a time when both countries are looking forward to a sustainable economic recovery, the summit brought together industry leaders to deliberate across a wide range of areas including - building a conducive business environment for business growth and competitiveness; sustainability & circular economy; India-UK financial collaboration - enhancing trade and investment; India-UK healthcare bridge pandemic response: global lessons learnt; India-UK technology & innovation partnerships.

Experts from both countries shared their perspectives on how to strengthen India - UK ties.

India and UK are working together to tackle global challenges such as COVID-19, regional security and prosperity, climate change and promoting sustainable and green growth, said Lord Gerry Grimstone, Minister for Investment, UK. We have the ambition to double bilateral trade by 2030, he added.

It is a matter of great pride that role of the Indian industry is being recognized as the two countries are negotiating on an enhanced trade partnership agreement and working towards a Free Trade Agreement, said Mr T V Narendran, President, CII and CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd.

We must look to enhance trade between our regions in a more realistic way with a focus on short and long term goals, said Richard Heald, Group Chair, UKIBC. The decision of the Indian Government in deferring retrospective taxation will give a boost to the telecom sector and is very much welcome. The focus on green financing will also give a boost to investments in the sustainable sector, he opined.

'We announced the opening of the University of Birmingham in Dubai yesterday. It makes me hope that the Indian Government will allow foreign universities to open up in India', said Lord Karan Bilimoria, President, Confederation of British Industry.

The private sector will play a key role in the process of achieving ambitious goals set for the India - UK relationship. They will lead the change and bring in innovation and investment and we should leverage on the private sector, said Mr R Mukundan, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Chemicals Ltd.

Greater Manchester is growing twice as fast as other regions of U.K. Manchester has formed a Manchester India Partnership to promote linkages with India. Manchester has a target of achieving net zero by 2038 and many Indian cities with whom we are working have similar agendas, remarked Mr Tim Newns, Chief Executive, MIDAS.

We have more than 2500 employees in Northern U.K. From a supply chain management perspective it would be really good to have the same standards in the U.K and India, said Mr R Dinesh, Managing Director, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd.

The pandemic has forced businesses to come together and nations to collaborate and build a better world. Largely, this period was digital and that's where we have been heavily investing in the past decade, especially in the UK. There is tremendous complementarity between UK and India. Both countries should explore how to create to large tech companies in India and UK collectively. The process has started, and we see a lot of unicorns which are coming out of India, but India needs to do more in creating global leadership, opined Mr Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Jetline Industries.

The unprecedented collaboration between different sections of society viz. government, academia, pharma companies and the medical community during the pandemic has led to a vaccination programme in the UK that is one of the best in the world, said Mr Ravi Limaye, MD, Wockhardt UK.

Many technology companies which are tech giants have been built up with U.K or Indian talent moving westwards to the U.S.A. If we can keep the intellectual capital in the system, we can build a set of global giants from India, said Mr John Owen, CEO - Europe and Americas, Route Mobile.

India, with 4 medical technology parks and the PLI scheme, offers a great opportunity to UK companies to collaborate with Indian companies and Make in India for the world, said Mr Himanshu Baid, Managing Director, Poly Medicure Ltd.

17 September 2021

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