Lord Francis Maude of Horsham, the British Government's Minister of State for Trade and Investment, is visiting Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi from September 8 to 11 2015.
Lord Maude's visit comes ahead of British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid's visit to New Delhi later in the week.
This visit comes at a time when UK remains the top G20 investor in India. The centre piece of the visit will be the India-UK Business Convention in Delhi, a gathering of major British and Indian CEOs including some of the top investors in India.
Lord Maude will focus on deepening these commercial ties between the two countries and will highlight how the UK's unique offer to India compliments Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aspirations for India.
Lord Maude said: "The UK and India have well-established commercial ties and my visit aims to take this to a new level of strength and cooperation. Our Government is committed to an enhanced partnership with India. I will be meeting the Indian Government and business leaders to discuss how we can support Prime Minister Modi's aspirations for India's economy."
Demonstrating the UK's commitment to PM Modi's "Make in India" initiative, Lord Maude joined the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in laying the foundation stone of a new GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) factory at Vemgal, Hosakote (near Bengalaru). GSK is investing £100m in this new pharmaceutical plant.
In Mumbai, the minister will meet key existing and potential investors in the UK, from Cyrus Mistry of Tata Sons, the UK's largest manufacturing employer, to new UK investor, Indiabulls' Sameer Gehlaut. He will also visit Cipla's laboratory facility and deliver a lecture at IIT Bombay to students and start-ups on innovation and entrepreneurship.
More From This Section
In New Delhi, the Minister will deliver the keynote address to the UK-India Business Convention extending his support for trade and investment between the two countries. He will unveil a limited edition portrait of Her Majesty the Queen taken by renowned British photographer David Bailey as a part of the celebrations to commemorate the longest reign by a British Monarch. The Minister will also strike a gold coin in the Royal Mint factory outside Delhi to highlight high-tech, high-value collaborative manufacturing between the UK and India.
While in New Delhi, Lord Maude will meet Ministers and Officials in the Indian Central government. He will also see top Indian investors to the UK Wipro,GENPACT, TCS/Tech-Mahindra and the leadership at the Confederation Indian Industries (CII), with the aim to boost trade and investment between our two countries.
