Modi strikes deals worth 9.2bn in UK

India and the UK announced deals worth £9.2 billion during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to the UK this week. A new rupee bond to fund Indian Railways, a civil nuclear pact and collaborations in the field of defence and cyber security were among the highlights of what British Prime Minister David Cameron described as a "new dynamic modern partnership". Cameron said: "During this visit British and Indian companies are announcing new collaborations together worth over £9 billion. We want to become the number one partners to finance the immense economic vision Prime Minister Modi and make London the centre for off-shore rupee trading with the launch of £1 billion worth of bonds including the first government-backed rupee denominated bond. Modi also highlighted plans for India to use London as a financial base for fundraising. He said: "We are going to use the London market for fundraising even more and I am happy to announce that we are set to launch a railway rupee bond in London. It is appropriate as the journey of Indian Railways started in the UK." The UK ranks 18th in the list of India′s top 25 trading partners and two-way trade in 2014-15 stood at $14.34 billion. The UK is the third largest inward investor in India, after Mauritius and Singapore, with a cumulative equity investment of $22.26 billion between 2000 and 2015. Modi said: “We are keen to build futuristic physical and social infrastructure. Through self-imposed discipline in financial management, we have been able to allocate more resources for infrastructure sectors. “In addition, we are setting up an India Investment and Infrastructure Fund. We have targeted an annual contribution of 3.5 billion US Dollars into this fund from our own resources. “There were a number of regulatory and taxation issues which were adversely impacting on the sentiments of foreign investors. We have taken very decisive steps to remove a number of long pending concerns. “The campaigns like Digital India and Skill India are designed to prepare the people to take part in this process. To tap their energy fully, we have also launched the Start-up India Campaign. We have witnessed massive growth in the number of start-ups in the recent past. “Many of you belong to India; many of you are in India already. But for those who are not there, I must say that: At this point of time, it is wiser to be in India; further, we are making it easier to invest in India and believe me, we are making it even better to 'Make in India'.” His talks with Cameron carried on at the British Prime Minister's country residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, where he is being hosted overnight. Modi leaves for Ankara to attend the G20 summit after a visit to the Tata Motors' owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) factory in Solihull, in the West Midlands region of England. The UK ranks first among the G20 and India undertook 122 FDI projects in the UK in 2014-15. The UK attracts more Indian investment than the rest of the European Union put together. Indian businesses in the UK employ around 110,000 people, 65,000 of whom work for the Tata Group.