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Business News/ News / World/  On day 2 of UK visit, Narendra Modi seeks investments
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On day 2 of UK visit, Narendra Modi seeks investments

Queen Elizabeth II hosts lunch for Modi; PM outlines reform measures, Make in India in address to business leaders

The highlight of the second day of Modi’s visit was a lunch hosted in his honour by Queen Elizabeth II. Photo: ReutersPremium
The highlight of the second day of Modi’s visit was a lunch hosted in his honour by Queen Elizabeth II. Photo: Reuters

London/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited British investment in a range of areas including defence manufacturing, as India and the UK seek to transform their bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership.

Addressing the India-Britain CEOs Forum on the second day of his three-day visit to Britain, Modi outlined initiatives such as Make in India to boost manufacturing and efforts to improve deficient infrastructure.

He also highlighted the government’s recent reform measures, including the easing of foreign direct investment norms in 15 sectors, plans to build 50 million houses by 2022 and generating 175 gigawatts of renewable energy.

Modi said investment by British companies in India would be a “win-win partnership" for both countries as he talked of investment opportunities in the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.

“We are confidently, consistently and ceaselessly working to integrate our economy with the world," he told business leaders from the two countries.

Speaking of the historical ties between the two countries, Modi said India and the UK were “economically made for each other and this relationship has to be driven by private sector CEOs".

Modi said his government wants to develop railway stations through public-private partnerships. He also described defence manufacturing as the backbone of the Make in India campaign.

The Indian PM also referred to his government’s Skill India initiative, aimed at equipping young Indians with skills to enter the jobs market.

India has set a target of training 500 million people by 2022. Nearly a million people enter the Indian labour market every month.

In April, a skill ministry report had said that India will require nearly 120 million more workers by 2022 and equipping them with required skills would be crucial to reap economic benefits. More than 90% of these workers will be needed in 10 sectors, led by building, construction and real estate, and retail.

The Prime Minister also assured British entrepreneurs that India was committed to protecting intellectual property rights (IPRs) of all innovators and entrepreneurs and a comprehensive national IPR policy was being finalized.

“I am personally convinced and want to assure you that India is committed to protect intellectual property rights of all innovators and entrepreneurs," Modi said.

His appeal for increased British investments came a day after the two countries announced collaborations worth more than £9 billion ($13.7 billion).

Britain was the first Western country to end a visa ban on Modi, imposed after the 2002 riots in Gujarat, when he was chief minister of the state. Modi has denied any wrongdoing in the violence that killed around 1,000 people, mainly Muslims.

This is Modi’s first visit to Britain; the Prime Minister visited France and Germany in April but a visit to Britain, India’s former colonial ruler, was reportedly deferred then, given that Britain was to hold general elections in May.

It is also the first visit by Modi abroad after the electoral loss for his Bharatiya Janata Party in the Bihar assembly elections, something British newspapers have taken note of.

The UK ranks 18th in the list of India’s top 25 trading partners and two-way trade in 2014-15 stood at $14.34 billion. The UK is the third-largest investor in India, after Mauritius and Singapore, with a cumulative investment of $22.26 billion between 2000 and 2015.

Modi’s talks with David Cameron, which began Thursday shortly after his arrival, continued at the British Prime Minister’s country residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, where Modi stayed overnight.

The highlight of the second day of Modi’s visit was a lunch hosted in his honour by Queen Elizabeth II.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said Modi presented the British monarch with some photographs taken 54 years ago from her first visit to India in January-February 1961 when she was chief guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

During that visit, she had visited Varanasi, currently Modi’s parliamentary constituency, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.

One of the pictures taken on 31 January 1961 shows the Queen visiting the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Modi also presented the Queen with some Darjeeling tea from Makaibari tea estate in West Bengal, fine organic honey from Jammu and Kashmir and Tanchoi stoles that are a speciality of Varanasi, the statement said.

In a separate development, the British high commission said Prince William and his wife Kate will visit India next year.

“Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit India in the spring of 2016," a statement by the high commission said.

“The visit is being undertaken at the request of Her Majesty’s Government and will be the first time The Duke and Duchess have visited the country. Full details will be confirmed early next year," it said.

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Published: 13 Nov 2015, 02:12 PM IST
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