The Hindu : Front Page : Brown hopes India-U.K. trade will increase in coming years

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Monday, Jan 21, 2008
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Brown hopes India-U.K. trade will increase in coming years

Sandeep Dikshit

Inaugurates auto parts manufacturing plant of Swraj Paul-led Caparo group

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

EXPANDING OPERATIONS: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (right) with his wife, Sarah Brown, Lord Swraj Paul, Caparo group chairman (centre), his son Angad Paul, CEO of the group, and U.K. Trade Minister Lord Digby at the unveiling of a Caparo plant in New Delhi on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday expressed the hope that trade between India and the United Kingdom would increase further in the coming years. He was inaugurating an auto parts manufacturing plant of the Swraj Paul-led Caparo group.

“I am here to celebrate the doubling of trade between the U.K. and India in the past five years,” he observed after unveiling the plaque for the Greater Noida plant at a hotel here. He also inaugurated a cultural centre being planned by the Caparo group on the outskirts of the capital.

The group is expanding its operations in India at a rapid pace, mainly in the high-end automotive parts sector. Ten plants are under construction, half of them around Chennai, and the company is conducting a feasibility study for five more plants.

Speaking on the occasion, chief executive officer Angad Paul said the group planned to increase its investment in India by six times — to $1 billion — in the next decade. “We are growing fast and are very keen on continuously investing in India. We plan on doing at least $1 billion sales here in the next 7-10 years,” he said.

Lord Swraj Paul spoke about the close ties between the two countries and said he retained the right to be both 100 per cent British and 100 per cent Indian.

Mr. Brown acknowledged the initiatives taken by Lord Paul that had led to increased bilateral understanding. “Today we do not just talk and celebrate the achievements of business, but talk and celebrate a man who has straddled two continents for many years and strengthened the relationship between India and Britain,” he said.

He recalled that Lord Paul had come to Britain to get his five-year-old daughter treated for leukaemia, and decided to stay on after the child passed away. Since then, besides investing in business, he helped in charitable causes.

Later at the entrepreneur summit, Mr. Brown was present when industry associations of the U.K. and India signed two business memoranda of understanding. Also present were U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton, and Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.

The MoU between UKSkills and WorldSkills India will enhance cooperation in vocational skills.

Ranbaxy chairman Malvinder Singh and chairman of i2india Holdings Chris Mathias signed a statement of intent that will focus on commercialisation of intellectual property developed in India.

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