INDIA-UK ECONOMIC TIES
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In the last 15 years, UK has given maximum FDI flows into India
India’s investments in UK is much more than the combined investments of EU in UK
India is the third biggest source of investments in the British economy.
India and UK have signed civil nuclear agreement recently
UK is participating in the Smart City project. It is investing in the development of
- Amaravati
- Indore
- Pune
India can leverage UK’s strength for
- Make in India
- Skill India
- Cyber security
In the health sector of UK, a sizeable number of doctors are Indians. A number of developed countries’ citizens, including UK, come to India for affordable treatment
The banking sector is very crucial for financing the goal of India’s INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) to reduce emissions intensity by 35% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Here, UK has lot of scope to invest in the Indian banking sector
UK firms employ roughly 700,000 Indian employees for their Indian operations
Indian firms in the UK wield far more influence. They are among the Britain’s biggest private employers and they own some of the world’s best known brands like Jaguar (of Tata Motors)
Areas where there is a scope for enhancing ties
- Retrospective taxation (Vodafone, Cairn)
- Limited FDI caps in certain sectors like insurance (only 49%)
- In the education sector, liberalization in UK is not that much as compared to India. There is a larger scope for collaboration in higher education
- There are around 90,000 Indian students in UK and 1,000 UK students in India
- India’s trade with UK was worth $14.3 billion last year. But this is far less than the India’s trade with other countries like USA; China etc.
- UK is the 18th biggest trading partner with India