UK hopeful of boosting investments in TN’s top industries: Bharat Joshi

The outgoing diplomat who will be replaced by British Consul General Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford from Atlanta, shared insights on bilateral trade between India and the UK, Brexit, Visas and entrepreneurship. Excerpts from a media interaction: 

Trade has grown significantly between the two nations. Last year was particularly strong with 15 per cent growth which resulted in 18 billion pounds (Rs 1.6 lakh crore) worth of bilateral trade between the two countries. Traditionally, UK has a goods deficit with most nations. In India, we have a more balanced investment partnership because of Information and communication technology (ICT). 

Companies in TN and Kerala have seen robust investment. Companies such as TVS Logistics has become a huge part of UK’s global supply chain, having its big operations outside of the US, there. The rest of the TVS group has also been seeing and identifying opportunities in the UK. In terms of encouraging Indian companies to look at UK for investments, we have been tremendously successful. 

We have also helped UK companies to set up important businesses here. We have worked closely with big groups such as Barclays (which has been expanding the size of its operations) and Standard Chartered. Two weeks ago, Scapa Group plc, a global supplier of bonding solutions and manufacturer of adhesive-based products for the healthcare and industrial markets, set up a new factory in Kanchipuram district with an investment of 25 million pounds, creating new jobs, bringing high quality technologies and not merely looking to supply to India but rest of the world too. 

The High Commission is also supporting a proposal to set up a Financial Services Centre of Excellence in Chennai, by the Software Technological Parks of India along with state government. We want to use UK Financial Service expertise to help create that park. 

The UK government will invest £1 million in the digital healthcare project to support India’s national health programmes, using UK technology. There are also plans to develop up to 5,000 diagnostic centres in India using UK’s National Health Service (NHS) expertise, equipment and suppliers. Eleven new ‘medi-cities’ are already being developed in India, as part of the Smart City project. This programme is run by the Indo UK Institute of Health (IUIH) in partnership with leading UK hospitals, the first of which is King’s College Hospital. Close to 5,500 jobs were created in the UK by Indian companies. 

More than 5.50 lakh visas were issued from India last year. About 89 per cent comprised first-time visas, 98 per cent cleared within target (which is typically 15 working days from the date of application). We have recorded high hit rates, with 11 per cent increase in visitor visas of which 6 per cent constitute business visas and 27 per cent increase in student visa last year.  Regarding skilled visas, 60 per cent were issued to highly skilled Indian professionals compared to the rest of the world. India is part of the growth story.