British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that he secured thousands of new jobs during his visit to India, with a range of UK companies confirming 3.6 billion pounds worth of investments across AI and fintech sectors.
Starmer, who concluded his Mumbai visit on Thursday after wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the visit had helped the UK seize the opportunities created by the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement (CETA) signed in July.
He promised to open more doors for British businesses in India, following the "ambitious" Free Trade Agreement, which will lower tariffs and mean trade is quicker, cheaper and easier.
Alongside a 125-strong business delegation, we have seized the opportunities created by our trade deal with India in full this week, said Starmer, in a statement at the conclusion of his India visit. "We've secured new investments into the UK, and created 10,600 jobs across the entire country, in some of our most thriving industries. And we've flown the flag for British business in India opening doors and galvanising our partnerships. Our outward-looking and proud approach is delivering real change, which people will see in their communities up and down the country," he said. Some of the key investments by British companies highlighted by 10 Downing Street include Graphcore, part of the SoftBank Group, which will invest up to 1 billion pounds in a new AI engineering campus in Bengaluru, creating 500 high-skilled jobs in India's semiconductor industry.
While UK fintech Tide will invest 500 million pounds in India over five years from 2026 expanding its India workforce to 2,300 by adding 800 professionals in the next 12 months, Revolut is looking to spend 500 million pounds in its India business in the next five years. -- PTI