Opinion - News Analysis   

London woos Indian money — and how!

— PHOTO: AFP

London Mayor Ken Livingstone (right) during a business meeting in New Delhi on November 20.

Indian businesses willing to invest in London are to be pampered under a new scheme designed to promote Britain’s trendy capital as Europe’s most investor-friendly city. All that Indian entrepreneurs need to do is arrive at Heathrow (legally, of course and with pots of money) and leave the rest to Touchdown London — an agency established especially to cater to Indian businessmen, starting out in London.

The idea, it is stated, is to make it possible for them to get down to work straightaway without having to worry about office space, staff or other essential support services. It is billed as a “unique initiative” to address specifically the needs of Indian businesses, especially small and medium-size companies who do not have the necessary infrastructure and may have otherwise hesitated to take the plunge.

“Touchdown London is a dedicated start-up service offering Indian businesses a soft-landing,” officials say reeling off a list of facilities awaiting the prospective investor from India.

Arguably the most tempting lolly on offer is free serviced office space for up to three months (and after three months at a 25 per cent discount) in the heart of prohibitively expensive central London.

Sceptics are assured that the scheme — launched last week to coincide with the London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s return from his heavily hyped visit to India — means to deliver what it promises on the tin: Touch down and get straight down to business.

Details of how exactly it proposes to do that are set out in a lavishly-produced glossy pamphlet, generously circulated at the launch: “A dedicated…manager will be on hand to offer our full range of services to help your business set up (sic), succeed and grow in London. Services include assisting with visas, work permits, company registration, opening a bank account, access to any professional service providers you need such as accountants, insurance brokers and lawyers.”

What? Still not tempted? Well, what about this: “We can also assist with helping you find somewhere to live in London.” And there is lots more in that glossy brochure.

Already, there is considerable Indian investment in London with more than 10,000 Indian-owned businesses generating a combined annual turnover of $14.4 billion. According to official data, London attracts more foreign direct investment from India than any other European city making India the second biggest source of FDI into London, after America.

Think London, which coordinates foreign investment in the British capital, says that over the past three years it has provided support to more than 50 Indian companies, including big players like Wipro, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and Punjab National Bank. The creation of Touchdown London was prompted by the view that a “bespoke” service that would provide all investment-related ``solutions” under one roof was needed to attract more Indian investors before they were hijacked by London’s European competitors. The reason why London is going flat out to woo Indian businesses is obvious: the scent of the “new” Indian money. The forecast is that as more Indian companies prepare to internationalise their operations the FDI flows from India are expected to jump from the current $2.6 billion to $5 billion by 2010. And London has its sights set on a big slice of that cake.

Mr. Livingstone, who sounded mesmerised by the new “vibrant” India (“even in the slums of India, there’s vibrancy”; “I’ve seen the future and it’s working”; “any London Mayor who doesn’t visit India would be neglecting their duty”), described India as a “rising economic superpower” suggesting that it would be a shame if London were to miss out on the action after all the hard work he had done selling its many USPs to Indian investors.

“With London currently positioned as one of the most pre-eminent business centres in the world, I hope that my visit demonstrated the benefits that London provides to Indian businesses looking to expand their headquarters in an increasingly competitive world,” he said.

The zeal to market London as the ultimate India-friendly destination has led to some amusing claims. At the launch of Touchdown London, some nearly choked on their canapés as one speaker claimed that there was no such thing as India-British relations, but only “Indo-London relations.” “What are called Indo-British relations are actually Indo-London relations,” he said provoking accusations of rewriting the long history of India-U.K. relations.

India’s outgoing High Commissioner to the U.K. Kamlesh Sharma was struck by the choice of the famous Long Room of Lord’s Cricket Ground, with its splendid view of the hallowed pitch, as the venue for the launch. “Ever since I was this high I had heard of Lord’s Long Room,” he said wistfully.

One reason why London had a “special place in the hearts of Indians,” he said, was because of the Lord’s cricket ground. His punch-line was the story of a friend who broke a trans-Atlantic journey in London only to have a glimpse of Lord’s.

“From the airport he drove straight to the Lord’s, kissed the ground outside the stadium and got back into the taxi to catch his flight home. That’s the only thing he did in London,” Mr. Sharma said, illustrating Indians’ obsessive passion for cricket, and their reverence for the mecca of English cricket.

But will they invest in London with the same passion? Apparently, some 15 companies have shown interest but how many would finally show up remains to be seen.

In the end, it will depend not so much on the incentives on offer but whether they find London worth their investment. Meanwhile, Touchdown London is a good model for India to emulate, especially to help small investors from the region.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

What kind of elections?
Japanese whalers at it again
Women to the fore: feminising Latin politics
London woos Indian money — and how!
Corrections and Clarifications
White House race is turning into a real classic
U.K.’s Afghan mission — a fruitless pursuit
Shocking
On judicial restraint

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu