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£1bn UK-India trade deals set to create over 6,000 UK jobs


The prime minister has announced new trade and investment deals with India worth £1bn.

It includes more than £533m of new investment from India into the UK, which is expected to create about 6,000 jobs.

Downing Street said the new partnership will “pave the way” for a future UK-India Free Trade Agreement.

“The economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer,” said Mr Johnson.

The deal, announced ahead of a virtual meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, includes a £240m investment by the Serum Institute of India, which will support clinical trials, research and possibly the manufacturing of vaccines.

Serum has already started phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus, in partnership with Codagenix.

Indian investment deals will create 1,000 new UK jobs each at health and tech firms Infosys, HCL Technologies and Mphasis.

Some 667 UK jobs will be created at Q-Rich Creations, 500 jobs at Wipro and 465 at 12 Agro.

“Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies,” said Mr Johnson.

Meanwhile, British businesses have secured export deals with India worth more than £446m, which are expected to create more than 400 British jobs.

They include a £200m deal involving CMR Surgical, which will create 100 new UK jobs.

The company’s next-generation ‘Versius’ surgical robotic system – which helps surgeons perform minimal access surgery – will be rolled out to hospitals in India.

Trade between the UK and India is already worth around £23bn a year, supporting more than half a million jobs, according to the government.

Mr Johnson said: “In the decade ahead, with the help of new partnership signed today and a comprehensive free trade agreement, we will double the value of our trading partnership with India and take the relationship between our two countries to new highs.”



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