Gujarat high on the
list of British firms, says envoy
The
UK is the largest foreign investor in Gujarat with 22 per cent of approvals,
worth Rs 2,019 crore, for UK projects since 1991.
Stating this at a recent
press conference here in Ahmedabad, the British High Commissioner to India,
Sir Rob Young, said, "In keeping with the Gujarat government's priority
list, we see major opportunities in infrastructure in the state with special
importance to six core sectors, including mining, agro-foods, environment,
health and education."
Leading a 26-member business
delegation to Gujarat, this is Sir Rob's first visit to the state which
is part of a specially-designed programme labelled 'Britain in town' under
the UK government's new thrust called the 'Outreach Initiative'.
The British companies in
India such as British Gas, PowerGen, Bharat Shell and ICI, have been investing
in power, petrochemicals and ports. "There are 32 project approvals with
the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) which are related exclusively
to Gujarat. These are all pure, new investments, new project approvals
and not just equity investment,' said the Deputy High Commissioner, western
region, Mr Michael Bates.
Lauding the state for its
role in encouraging foreign companies to set up shop, Sir Rob said, "Gujarat
compares favourably in terms of investment by foreign companies. It is
mainly the friendly environment and the one-stop-shop facility that has
drawn British firms to invest here."
The high commissioner mentioned
that British companies have always been keen on increasing ties with Gujarat.
"There are a whole lot of UK firms, like Bovis, Babtie, General Accident,
Standard Chartered Bank, Mott Mcdonald and Frischmann Prabhu, which have
set up business in India and are eager to enhance ties with Gujarat,"
he added.
Sir Rob expressed the hope
that the already existing business ties between Gujarat and the UK would
be furthered under a new British initiative which has earmarked a number
of pilot projects in pilot states.
"Gujarat is high on the list
of such states which also include other names like Andhra Pradesh, West
Bengal and Maharashtra." Pointing to the scope for more Indo-British business,
he said that Mr Bates had last year led similar delegations to Surat and
Baroda, which had resulted in 43 serious business inquiries and 20 requests
for potential joint ventures.
"In fact, the business information
centre here has answered more than 1,000 inquiries in the past 12 months,"
he added.
"After somewhat turbulent
past years, relations are now more cordial and warm at both official and
political levels. We have been carrying forward extensive dialogues and
the issues in trying to identify common grounds are trade, environmental
issues, international financial structure, global issues, security issues,
relations with neighbours and educational and cultural ties." he added.
"We are working on a huge
canvass, with the colours looking bright and promising a very positive
picture." This is how he described Indo-British relations on a macro level.
Compiled from local news media
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