MUMBAI: Clearly out to woo Indian businesses and students, British Prime Minister David Cameron on his visit to Mumbai on Monday announced that the UK would introduce same-day visa services for investors and that there would be no cap on the number of Indian students to UK or the duration of their residence there. Accompanied by the largest-ever trade delegation from the UK to any country, the PM also said India should continue to reduce trade barriers to create better opportunities for British companies and spoke of partnering in Indian infrastructure projects like a potential economic corridor between Mumbai and Bangalore.
The British premier said there were great opportunities for Indian companies to invest in Britain. "When I see Indian investment in Britian, I only see hope—investments like Jaguar and Land Rover, which is a massive international success story," he said. "We welcome that sort of investment." In a sign of the growing business footprint, British retail company Debenhams will open ten new stores across India by 2017, and UK hairstyling brands Brylcream and TRESemme products will go on sale in India. The Royal Mint and the MMTC-PAMP India have partnered to strike The Royal Mint's gold Sovereign commemorative coins in India for the first time in nearly a century. The InterContinental Hotel Group also plans to expand in India by building 13 new hotels over the next few years.
The delegation also explored soft power exchanges in health, education, culture and renewable energy. The British Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, chaired a round table on education and employability at St Xavier's College. On the sidelines of the event, he told mediapersons that they would meet officials of the human resource development ministry in Delhi to discuss the problems associated with recognition of the taught Masters' programmes in India. "The Indian government education bodies do not recognize the one-year taught Masters' degree from UK. Though getting a job in the private sector is easier with the degree, the government sector does not recognize it." Attributing this as one of the factors affecting the flow of Indian students to UK universities, one of the delegates also mentioned that a re-entry into the Indian education system after the one-year taught Masters programme was difficult with lack of recognition.
Cameron also sought information on various infrastructural initiatives in Mumbai, including the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, the Navi Mumbai airport and the Nhava-Sewri Link. Transport for London (TfL), which runs an extensive metro network in London, inked a crucial memorandum of understanding with MMRDA for the development of metro systems, exchange of expertise and information. The MOU was signed in the presence of Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who said the new partnership would help MMRDA implement and operationalize its plans for setting up a 150-km Metro rail network for Mumbai and another 300-km network in the Mumbai metropolitan region.
Chavan also used the occasion to push for investment. "Our vision is to transform Mumbai into a world-class metropolis, which is estimated to require investment worth US $ 40 billion. Participation of the UK business community will encourage us to plan more initiatives," he said, adding that Cameron had shown interest in investing in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
Trade between India and UK has grown by 23% in 2010-11, and both countries hope to double the figure by 2015. The British PM lauded the "enormous power" of the Indian economy and said he wanted UK to be "a partner of choice" in India's growth over the next decade. He hoped India too would work to break the barriers in their two-way exchanges. On their part, Indian entrepreneurs acknowledged that India had posed challenges with the uncertainty of its reform policy and the issue of retrospective taxation, but assured an optimistic outlook on future ties.
Cameron also stopped by the police gymkhana to pay tribute to the cops who lost their lives during the 26/11 terror attack.
New Indo-UK bridges
*Indian investors in UK could get a visa within a day.
*No cap on No. of Indian students who can study in the UK.
*Cameron evinced interest in constructing a Mumbai-Bangalore corridor as well as existing projects such as DMIC, Navi Mumbai Airport, Nhava-Sewri link.
*Transport for London (TfL) inked a crucial memorandum of understanding with MMRDA.
*The Royal Mint and the MMTC-PAMP India have partnered to strike The Royal Mint's gold Sovereign commemorative coins in India for the first time in nearly a century.
*UK government announced that it will support the creation of a new pan-India network of British Business Centres by 2017.
David Cameron woos India with visa, education sops
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David Cameron woos India with visa, education sops
