Trade between the UK and India is worth about 23 billion pounds per year, and the British government hopes to double that by 2030 as India has been high on London's list of trade deal targets since Britain left the European Union last year.
India and the United Kingdom have announced one billion UK pounds ($1.39bn) of private-sector investment and have committed to seeking a free trade deal. This was ahead of a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian leader Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
In a separate statement, the UK India Business Council said free trade agreement is the right eventual goal and it is hugely encouraging that the ETP will address market access barriers and ease of doing business immediately and on an ongoing basis.
The investments include £240 million to be pumped in by SII for its vaccine business in Britain, and a new sales office that is expected to create a “large number of jobs”, the UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. SII’s sales office is expected to generate new business worth more than $1 billion, £200 million of which will be invested into the UK.
It includes more than £533m of new investment from India into the UK, which is expected to create about 6,000 jobs.
Indian investment deals will create 1,000 new UK jobs each at health and tech firms Infosys, HCL Technologies and Mphasis. Some 667 UK jobs will be created at Q-Rich Creations, 500 jobs at Wipro and 465 at 12 Agro.
“Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies,” said Boris Johnson.
The two leaders also discussed the Covid19 situation and ongoing cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including the successful partnership on vaccines. Modi thanked Johnson for the prompt medical assistance provided by the UK in the wake of the severe second wave of Covid in India. Last week the UK sent £6 million worth of medical supplies to help India.
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