Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to Britain has seen India and the UK agreeing on Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) in commercial deals and concluding negotiations over a deal that seeks to increase bilateral cooperation in the field of civil and military technology and nuclear research projects. The major investments made by the private sector on both sides include:
Energy
Lightsource Renewable Energy Holdings has announced a Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) investment in India. It will design, install and manage around 3 gigawatts of solar power infrastructure in India over the next five years.
Technology company Intelligent Energy is now facilitating an initial order of over 10,000 hydrogen fuel cells, worth over Rs 1,280 crore (Rs 12.8 billion).
OPG Power Ventures will invest Rs 29,000 crore in India, creating around 100 UK jobs over the next few years as well as jobs in India. The investment will create 4,200 megawatts (Mw) of new power capacity in India, of which 1,000 Mw will be solar power and 3,200 Mw will be thermal and renewable power in Tamil Nadu.
Information technology
Kloudpad Mobility Research’s Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billlion) investment to produce the next generation of smart watches, wearables and tablets in south India will support 50 highly skilled researchers in the UK and create 2,500 manufacturing jobs in India.
Vodafone has announced further investments in India totalling Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion). These include Rs 8,000 crore to upgrade and expand its country-wide network coverage and Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) in its technology centres in Pune and Ahmedabad. A further Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) will be invested in a data centre to provide customised communication services for enterprises. Another Rs 1,000 crore investment will go into the setting up of a payment bank.
Wipro is increasing its investment in the UK with the opening of its newest office for Wipro Digital. Wipro Digital employs more than 50 people in London and plans to hire another 200 in the next 12 months.
Health care
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Healthcare Pvt Ltd will set up King’s College Hospital, Chandigarh. This is the first of 11 institutes for health that will be developed across India, which when fully implemented will amount to a Rs 10,000 crore investment in India’s health care system.
SSPSL, a subsidiary of India’s Strides Shasun and a leading provider of services to the pharmaceutical industry, will invest Rs 80 crore in its facility in Dudley, Tyne and Wear. This investment will create up to 60 new jobs.
Education
A partnership between the British Council and Tata Consultancy Services will see the global infotech services firm provide opportunities for 1,000 graduate interns from British universities to train and work in India. The internships will be offered between 2016 and 2020 and will be managed jointly by the British Council and TCS. Each internship will last 12 months.
HSBC announced the launch of its Skills for Life initiative in India, a programme to skill 75,000 disadvantaged young people and women over five years. The programme will support non-governmental organisations in implementing projects in three focus areas: employment and entrepreneurship-linked skills training for disadvantaged youth; upskilling of teachers and educators; and financial literacy and entrepreneurship development of women.
Integrated learning solutions provider Dexler is setting up Dexler Education UK, its European headquarters, with an investment of around Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). This will create approximately 50 UK jobs to deliver technology-assisted learning programmes for use in the context of corporate training.
Creative and retail
Merlin Entertainments is to open the first Madame Tussauds on the subcontinent in New Delhi in 2017. The company will invest up to Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) over 10 years with a view to opening more of the company’s iconic global brands in India. The brands include Legoland Discovery Centre and Sea Life Aquarium.
In a deal worth Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion), Holland & Barrett International has partnered with Apollo Hospitals to open 1,000 Holland & Barrett outlets in India over the next five years. The first store will open in New Delhi in January 2016 and there are plans to have 115 outlets operational by the end of the year.
Logistics
TVS is opening a Rs 200 crore (rs 2 billion) advanced logistics facility in Barnsley, generating 100 new jobs which will grow to 500 across the TVS Group over five years. As part of Team Leidos, the company is integral to delivering Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) worth of procurement savings to the ministry of defence over 13 years.
TVS has established a joint venture with the Automobile Association (AA) worth Rs 100 crore to establish the first global roadside assistance brand in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Finance and professional services
HDFC has announced a proposal to issue rupee-denominated bonds overseas of up to Rs 4,900 crore (Rs 49 billion) under Reserve Bank of India guidelines, in one or more tranches. HDFC intends to list the initial issue of bonds for trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Bharti Airtel announced that it intended to issue its maiden sterling bond of up to Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The potential bond issue is subject to market conditions and will help Bharti extend maturities and diversify the investor base in its debt portfolio.
Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited has invested Rs 660 crore in OakNorth Bank, a recently authorised bank lending to small business owners. With this investment, Indiabulls will hold a 40 per cent stake in OakNorth.
State Bank of India announced the opening of two new branches in Hounslow and Ilford. This is expected to generate new jobs.
London Stock Exchange Group and Yes Bank will sign an agreement to foster the development of bond and equity issuance, with a focus on green infrastructure finance. Yes Bank plans to list a green bond of up to Rs 3,300 crore through medium term notes on the London Stock Exchange by December 2016.
Yes Bank also intends to raise further capital in London, potentially through the listing of global depository receipts as part of its overall Rs 6,500 crore equity capital raising plans. State Bank of India and the London Stock Exchange Group have announced a collaboration to create the FTSE-SBI India Bonds Indices to be used initially by a new investment fund run by State Bank of India. These indices will facilitate investment in India’s bond markets and support market liquidity and pricing.
Modi's foreign exploits
Here’s a look at the highlights from some of PM Narendra Modi’s previous foreign visits
United States (September 22-28, 2015)
Modi held discussions with leading international financial and investment entities. The takeaways included:
- Google to help Indian Railways set up Wi-Fi at 500 stations and Microsoft will take low-cost broadband technology to some 500,000 villages across the country
- Modi held meetings with 47 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies including PepsiCo and Ford for investments in India
- The CEOs he met included Ahmad Chatila, CEO SunEdison; Nikesh Arora, President and COO, Softbank; K.R. Sridhar, CEO, Bloom Energy
China (May 14-17, 2015)
India and China signed 24 agreements worth over $10 billion during Modi’s three-day visit. These included:
- Establishing of consulates in Chengdu and Chennai
- Cooperation in vocational education and setting up of Mahatma Gandhi Institute for skill development in India
- Development of consultative mechanism on cooperation in trade negotiations
- Cooperation between the foreign ministry and Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CCCPC)
- Action plan between the national railway administration of China and the Indian Railways
Japan (August 30-September 3, 2014)
$35 billion of public and private investment was pledged by Japan as part of the India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership for projects of mutual interest in the areas of infrastructure, connectivity and the rejuvenation of the Ganga, among others. Other agreements included:
- Setting up of a 10 Mw canal top grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in Gujarat
- Japan pledged a loan of $ 156 million for the Guwahati sewerage project
- Development of industrial cities at Dholera in Gujarat, Shendra-Bidkin in Maharashtra
- Integrated industrial townships in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Vikram Udyogpuri near Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
- Expanding Japanese investment in Mass Rapid Transport System
Germany (April 12-14, 2015)
The key takeaways from Modi's Germany trip included:
- Both Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke in favour of a free trade agreement between the European Union and India
- The joint statement by both countries recognised the establishment of a working group on urban development
- Stronger educational exchanges to be encouraged along with collaborations between universities in both countries
Photograph: PTI
