Today, the Prime Minister will welcome nearly £6 billion in new investment and export wins.
- Thousands of jobs created for Brits through new Indian investment and export wins worth almost £6 billion
- New figures show that £4.8bn trade deal will unlock economic growth for each region and nation of the UK - delivering on the government's Plan for Change
- UK and India also agree to ramp up joint efforts against organised crime and illegal migration with new framework to tackle trafficking, document fraud and remove barriers to return
Today, the Prime Minister will welcome nearly £6 billion in new investment and export wins, which will create over 2,200 British jobs across the country as Indian firms expand their operations in the UK and British companies secure new business opportunities in India. These deals will drive jobs in high-growth sectors like aerospace, technology and advanced manufacturing - supporting engineers, technicians and supply chain workers, in every corner of the UK.
It comes as the Prime Minister is set to meet the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, today for the signing of the landmark UK-India trade deal. From Coventry to Carlisle, new analysis shows communities across every region of the UK will benefit from its £4.8 billion increase to UK GDP each year.
Thanks to the deal, British workers will enjoy a collective uplift in wages of £2.2 billion each year and could also see cheaper prices and more choice on clothes, shoes, and food products.
The UK already imports £11 billion in goods from India, but liberalised tariffs on Indian goods will make it easier and cheaper to buy their best products. For businesses, this could mean potential savings when importing components and materials used in areas such as advanced manufacturing or luxury and consumer goods.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
Our landmark trade deal with India is a major win for Britain. It will create thousands of British jobs across the UK, unlock new opportunities for businesses and drive growth in every corner of the country, delivering on our Plan for Change.
We're putting more money in the pockets of hardworking Brits and helping families with the cost of living, and we're determined to go further and faster to grow the economy and raise living standards across the UK.
India's average tariff on UK products will drop from 15% to 3% which means British companies selling products to India from soft drinks and cosmetics to cars and medical devices will find it easier to sell to the Indian market.
Whisky producers will benefit from tariffs slashed in half, reduced immediately from 150% to 75% and then dropped even further to 40% over the next ten years - giving the UK an advantage over international competitors in reaching the Indian market.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
The billions brought to our economy from the trade deal signed today will reach all regions and nations of the UK so working people in every community can feel the benefits.
The almost £6 billion in new investment and export wins announced today will deliver thousands of jobs and shows the strength of our partnership with India as we ensure the UK is the best place in the world to invest and do business.
This government is proving time and again that we can deliver on our mission to grow the economy, put more money in pockets and boost living standards under our Plan for Change.
The two Prime Ministers have also signed a renewed Comprehensive and Strategic Partnership, which will see closer collaboration on defence, education, climate, technology and innovation. This comes exactly one year since the countries signed the landmark UK-India Technology Security Initiative, which sees joint work on telecoms security and unlocking investment across emerging technologies - telecoms, critical minerals, AI, quantum, health/bio tech, advanced materials and semiconductors.
The UK and India have also agreed to strengthen cooperation in tackling corruption, serious fraud, organised crime, and irregular migration through enhanced intelligence sharing and operational collaboration. This includes committing to finalising a groundbreaking new criminal records sharing agreement, facilitating the exchange of criminal records to support criminal proceedings, maintain accurate watchlists and enable the enforcement of travel bans. These measures represent a significant step forward in joint efforts to combat organised immigration crime.
Aligned with the UK's recent Industrial and Trade Strategies, the deal will support the sectors which drive the most growth for the economy. The UK's large and varied manufacturing sectors will benefit from tariffs cut on aerospace (as high as 11% reduced to 0%), automotives (up to 110% down to 10% under a quota) and electrical machinery (from up to 22% down to either 0% of a 50% reduction).
A reduction in tariffs, combined with a reduction in regulatory barriers to trade between the UK and India are estimated to:
Increase UK exports to India by nearly 60% in the long run - this is equivalent to an additional £15.7 billion of UK exports to India when applied to projections of future trade in 2040.
Increase bilateral trade by nearly 39% in the long run, equivalent to £25.5 billion a year, when compared to 2040 projected levels of trade in the absence of an agreement
The clean energy industry will have brand new, unprecedented access to India's vast procurement market as the country makes the switch to renewable energy and continues to see growing energy demand.
For financial and professional business services, locked in access will offer certainty to expand in India's growing market and measures such as binding India's foreign investment cap for the insurance sector, ensuring UK financial services companies are treated on an equal footing with domestic suppliers.
Meanwhile, 26 British companies have secured new business in India. Airbus & Rolls-Royce will soon begin delivering Airbus aircraft - with over half powered by Rolls-Royce engines - to major Indian airlines as part of around £5 billion worth of contracts recently agreed. These orders will help sustain hundreds of jobs across their respective sites in Filton, Broughton and Derby.
18 firms have confirmed new investment including Zerowatt Energy, AI powered energy intelligence platform is setting up its Global HQ in Leicester. The firm will invest £10m and create 50 new jobs across Leicester, Manchester, Edinburgh and London over the next three years.
Other UK and Indian businesses who have confirmed almost £6 billion in new investments and export deals today creating over 2,200 jobs across the UK includes:
- Carbon Clean, a UK-based leader in carbon capture, with projected UK export contributions of £83 million over the next five years, has invested £7.6 million in a Global Innovation Centre in Mumbai. This ODI and export wins will unlock 250 jobs across London, Glasgow and Huddersfield as well as 100 jobs in Mumbai.
- AI and data services company, DCube AI, is investing £5 million in the UK, unlocking 50 jobs across Manchester and London in the next three years to strength its technology offering to UK customers.
- Occuity, an innovative UK AI healthcare company has partnered with Remidio Innovative Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a leading Indian manufacturer and distributor of ophthalmic medical devices to bring Occuity' s cutting-edge ophthalmic screening technologies to India, improving access to innovative and non-invasive eye screening and leading to an export value of £74.3 million over 5 years.
- Johnson Matthey, a UK-based leader in chemicals and sustainable technologies, has secured recent contracts of over £20 million for process licensing, engineering, and catalysts supply in India. The company will also invest £4 million in a new plant at Taloja (Maharashtra) and in doubling its capacity at an existing site in Panki, Uttar Pradesh, with contracts are helping to create up to 20,000 jobs in India during the construction phase of these projects.
- Marcus Evans Group, a global business intelligence and summits business company established its new Global Technology office in Mumbai to serve its 59 offices worldwide and has confirmed a combined Export (£42mn) and ODI (£27mn) win of £69 million over the next five years from India.
- LTIMindtree , a global technology consulting and digital solutions company plans to further expand its London operations by adding over 300 highly skilled jobs, investing £1m. This includes a state-of-the-art AI innovation studio and showcase lab.
- Aurionpro, a global enterprise technology leader in Banking, Payments, Insurance, Data Centers, and Public Sector technology is investing over £20M to launch its UK HQ, creating 150+ high-value jobs in multiple locations across UK over 3 years. It will also open AI-powered R&D labs in collaboration with top UK universities to develop next-gen transport technology and lead the global Safe Superintelligence (SSI) movement, ensuring AI is built safely and ethically.
Tufan Erginbiligic, Rolls-Royce CEO, said:
India is an important market for our business, with over 90 years of partnership with Indian industry and the Indian Government. We welcome the provisions in this Free Trade Agreement, including those that bring closer alignment with international standards for trade in civil aerospace. These agreements will benefit Rolls-Royce and our customers, paving the way for future aerospace growth in India.
Nik Jhangiani, Interim Chief Executive, Diageo, said:
This agreement marks a great moment for both Scotch and Scotland, and we'll be raising a glass of Johnnie Walker to all those who have worked so hard to get it secured.
William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said:
The signing of this agreement is a clear signal of the UK's continuing commitment to free and fair trade. It will open a new era for our businesses and boost investment between two of the world's largest economies.
Currently around 16,000 UK companies are trading goods with Indian companies, and there is high interest in our Chamber Network to grow that. This deal will create new opportunities in the transport, travel, creative and business support sectors alongside traditional strengths in finance and professional services.
Jean-Etienne Gourgues, Chivas Brothers Chairman and CEO, said:
Signature of the UK-India FTA is a sign of hope in challenging times for the spirits industry. India is the world's biggest whisky market by volume and greater access will be an eventual game changer for the export of our Scotch whisky brands, such as Chivas Regal and Ballantine's.
The deal will support long term investment and jobs in our distilleries in Speyside and our bottling plant at Kilmalid and help deliver growth in both Scotland and India over the next decade. Let's hope that both governments will move quickly to ratification so business can get to work implementing the deal!
