CII expects closer Indo-UK ties under Brown

The Confederation of Indian Industry expects an upswing in the Indo-UK bilateral relations under new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "It will be a stepped up relation, not stepped down relation," president of CII, Sunil Bharti Mittal said in London on Tuesday.

Mittal and Phiroz Adi Vandrevala, co-chair of Indo-British Partnership told reporters Gordon Brown's visit to India as Chancellor in January this year was "extremely positive." "He will be an extremely good friend of India as Prime Minister," Vandrevala, executive vice president of Tata Consultancy Services said.

Mittal noted that the outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair was a "great friend of India" and a popular one too. "During his visit to India, he was all praise for India, its IT and Biotechnology achievements and India as a knowledge society." Under Brown, "it will be a stepped up relation, not stepped down relation," Mittal said.

Mittal, Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, is leading a 12-member CII delegation to UK and held, during the last two days, a series of discussions with UK businesses inviting them to invest in India, particularly in infrastructure and food industry.

Asked about progress in implementing the tie up between Bharti Enterprises and American WalMart, Mittal said a formal agreement on their joint venture would be signed "fairly soon" and most probably next month.

Earlier in the day business leaders from India and the UK met here to discuss ways and means to connect rural India to urban Britain. At a deliberation organised by the Commonwealth Business Council Forum, challenges of rural India were laid bare and ways to prevent food wastage in India, estimated at up to 40 per cent of the total produce because of lack of infrastructure, cold storage and process facilities were discussed.

Addressing the gathering, CBC director general Dr Mohan Kaul highlighted the challenges faced in supply chain and emphasised the need to link UK industry supply chain to boost Indian food production process.

"The rural India provides unprecedented opportunities for investment in infrastructure, cold chain, supply chain linking rural produce to urban Indian and international consumers," he noted.

Inviting British businesses to invest in the Indian food industry, Sunil Mittal said "UK must come and play a significant role. The effort can be a collaborative one. India is witnessing a consumer revolution. There are opportunities and challenges here and the UK industry can play an import ant role, especially in building cold chains. You do not need to own land but invest in process industry and contract farming."