Indian Professionals Forum to spearhead $500-mn fund to boost UK-India ties

The Indian Professionals Forum (IPF), a UK-based non-profit think tank for diaspora related policy advocacy, is planning to spearhead an approximately $500-million fund, which will invest in technology ventures to attract Indian entrepreneurs to the UK. 

The forum was in talks with the governments of both the countries to gain their support, said its president, Mohan Kaul, who is also the executive chairman of the Commonwealth Investment Corporation.

The forum was formed in the last quarter of 2017 with support of the High Commission of India. It promotes networking and professional development for working Indians, who constitute about 50 per cent of the Indian population in the UK.  The fund will provide an opportunity for the forum to promote trade relations between the UK and India, replicating US-India business relations. 

"We are hopefully looking at a $500-million fund, starting from a $100-million fund where $20 million will be provided by the two governments. That is the proposal. We have not received any approval so far, but that is what we are discussing," Kaul said while speaking on the sidelines of cross-border investment and scaling up of fintech companies globally at the Commonwealth Business Forum. 

The event, held on Friday, was organised by the British Deputy High Commission in association with TiE Chennai, which seeks to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship both within the city as well as in the larger state of Tamil Nadu.

The UK and Indian governments are expected to raise around 20 per cent of the fund and the rest will come from fund managers.

The IPF will be the promoter and will work with governments and asset management companies. 

Technology such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, financial technology, payment methods, and IT-enabled services in payments, healthcare, will be the primary focus of the fund.

"The UK has technology and innovations, but India has the scale. We will not make more money in the UK, but we will source the technology there. We are talking to technology companies, that if you want to be a world player, India is the place to go to," he said. 

While it is not mandatory, the aim is to promote companies with base in the UK, but business connected with India.

India was the third largest investor in the UK and the latter was the third largest investor in India, after Singapore and Mauritius, Kaul said. Indian investments in the UK provides employment to more than 110,000 people. While the investment sector was performing well, trade between the two countries was slow, he added.

Indian ventures such as the FinTech Centre of Excellence, being set up by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Chennai, is expected to attract interest from firms in the UK. 

The centre, which will have 100 seats in Chennai, is planning to raise funds from private equity and venture capital funds.

A total of Rs  200 million of the Rs  430 million will be allocated for funding companies in the incubators. Around 50 per cent of the Rs  430 million will come from the central and state governments, while the rest will have to be raised from fund managers. The Centre will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for guidance on how to proceed as well as for technical assistance, according to Sanjay Tyagi, director, STPI, Chennai.