UK to forge deeper infrastructure, finance ties with India

UK to forge deeper infrastructure, finance ties with India

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 06:52 PM IST
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London : Amid fears of the global economy edging close to recession, India and UK have agreed to open up trade and markets to support growth, carry out structural reforms and address issues related to cross-border tax evasion, reports PTI.

India and UK agree to open up trade and markets to support growth, carry out structural reforms and address issues related to cross-border tax evasion

Britain announced a slew of investments to deepen trade and economic ties with India in the infrastructure and financial services sectors and renewed pledge for autonomical exchange of tax information from 2017, a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held talks with his UK counterpart.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said the discussions as part of the eighth UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) will further boost trade and investment between the two nations.

The two nations will work together for developing an India-UK partnership fund under the umbrella of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) recently created in India.

Under the Indian National Infrastructure Partnership, the world’s fifth largest economy will support the delivery of major infrastructure projects in India across key sectors including smart cities, renewable energy and railways, all of which are vital for India’s future growth.    This initiative will support India’s development and may also present significant new commercial opportunities for UK businesses offering expertise in infrastructure delivery and financial and professional services.

India will press ahead with liberalising the Indian legal services market to allow foreign lawyers the right to operate in India, the UK’s Treasury department said. This will act as a catalyst for international investment in India and give businesses the access they need to international legal advice.

It will also bring new opportunities for the UK professionals, who will benefit from being offered similar rights to those that Indian firms already enjoy in the UK, allowing them to enter partnerships with Indian firms and bring their specialist expertise to India.

Both sides welcomed the prospect of a pipeline of rupee bond issuances in London by Indian corporates, and agreed that the first such public sector issuance would be by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation.

This will help build on the success of rupee bond issuances in London by the International Finance Corporation, and demonstrates the UK’s position as a business partner of choice for the world’s fastest growing economies.

As the rupee markets build, London’s capital markets will play a key role in financing India’s continued rapid economic growth, the department said. Both nations agreed to substantially strengthen links between the leading FinTech communities in India and Britain.

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