Speaking at the India-UK Tech Summit, Modi showcased his government's initiatives in sectors like smart cities, startups and digital economy as he sought enhanced engagement with Britain.
"Together, we can create a vibrant and thriving environment for new commercial applications with breakthrough technologies," he said at the event, also attended by visiting UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Modi further said that both countries face numerous economic challenges in the current global environment which directly affect trade and commerce.
India, he said, is now the fastest growing large economy with the most open investment climate.
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"We also expect 'Make in India' to be a key sector of bilateral engagement. Advanced manufacturing is a special endeavor under this programme. The UK as a leading player can benefit from our liberal FDI policies in defence manufacturing, aerospace and electronics engineering," the Prime Minister said.
He said India's vast traditional knowledge base can be coupled with UK's modern scientific investigation to provide a holistic approach to preventive healthcare. "This can help address some of the modern lifestyle diseases that we face."
India, he said, is the third largest investor in the UK, and Britain is the largest G20 investor in India. Both countries support large numbers of jobs in each other's economies.
"I understand that UK companies have already signed deals
worth 9 billion pounds and I encourage more participation," the Prime Minister said.
The 'Start-up India' programme aims at converging innovation and technology with entrepreneurship for tech-savvy youth. "Today, India and the UK have emerged amongst the top three largest startup hubs in the world with an exciting ecosystem of investors and innovators," he said.
Stating that the India-UK Tech Summit focuses on higher education, he said it is vital for Indian students and will define the bilateral engagement in a shared future.
"We must therefore encourage greater mobility and participation of young people in educational and research opportunities," he said.
Science, technology and innovation, the PM said, are immense growth forces and will play a very significant role in India-UK relationship.
He said the convergence of his government's flagship development missions, technology achievements and aspirations, and strong bilateral relations offer huge new growth avenues for Indian and UK companies.
"There is an opportunity for India and the UK to collaborate in the 'Digital India' and expand information convergence and people centric e-governance," he added.
India, he said, will soon have over a billion phone connections with an urban tele-density of around 154 per cent.
Also, there is a scope for natural collaboration in India's rapidly developing financial services sector, he said, adding 'Fintech' is emerging as the next big transformation for India as 220 million new households are brought into the umbrella of the financial inclusion scheme, Jan Dhan Yojana.
Stating that India's partnership with UK in industrial
research has been one of the most exciting programmes, Modi said the Global Innovation & Technology Alliance or GITA platform of CII and Department of Science and Technology along with Innovate-UK supports industry led R&D projects in affordable healthcare, clean technology, manufacturing and information and communications and technology (ICT).
He said Indian innovative entrepreneurs, talented work force and R&D capabilities combined with large markets, demographic dividend and increasing economic competitiveness offer new growth sources for the world economy.
"Today, the world is at an inflection point where technology advancement is transformational. It is vital that India and the UK, two countries linked by history, work together to define the knowledge economy of the 21st Century," he said.
The present India-UK cooperation in science and technology is driven by 'high quality' and 'high impact' research partnerships.
Also, scientific communities of the two countries are working on new vaccines for infectious diseases, inventing new smart materials, providing solutions for clean energy and climate change mitigation, and improving crop productivity including agriculture and food security.
"We have agreed to establish India-UK Clean Energy R&D Centre on solar energy with joint investment of 10 million pounds. A new 'Anti-Microbial Resistance' initiative with joint investment of 15 million pounds is also being launched," Modi said.