TCS, Wockhardt lead UK's big Indian investment wins

London: Indian technology major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and pharmaceutical and biotech major Wockhardt are among the big investment wins being celebrated in the UK as International Trade Secretary Liz Truss concluded her five-day visit to India this week. The Department for International Trade (DIT) confirmed that the Cabinet minister, who held talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during her visit to Delhi between February 5 and 9, had agreed the terms of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) and set the stage for a potential free trade agreement (FTA) in the future.

Besides, the minister clinched a major investment by TCS that will bring 1,500 high-skilled jobs to sites all over the UK and further investment by Wockhardt at its Wrexham site in Wales, which will lead to more than 40 new jobs and the extension of a Covid-19 vaccination contract to ensure the UK has "uninterrupted" fill and finish capacity for vaccines in 2022.

"India is the world's biggest democracy and a nation that shares our belief in free enterprise. Deeper trading ties will create opportunities for UK businesses that were simply not there as part of the European Union and set the stage for a much closer partnership with one of the economic powerhouses of the present and future," said Truss.

"We will be collaborating much more closely in the industries of tomorrow like science, tech and green growth, so we can build back better and deliver an export-led, investment-led, jobs-led recovery from coronavirus," she said. According to official statistics, the UK-India trade relationship was worth 23 billion pounds in 2019 and supports key industries such as technology and life sciences and around half a million jobs in each other's economies.

During her India visit, Truss met UK respiratory digital health company Smart Respiratory Products, which is helping doctors in India manage their patients remotely via a smartphone app and telemedicine platform. The firm recently secured a GBP 5-million partnership with Indian company, Care Ability Healthcare, to supply their Smart Asthma respiratory solutions. "Life Sciences has been a priority sector for both nations, with UK pharmaceuticals exports to India growing by 21.4 per cent to 96.75 million pounds in 2019," the DIT notes. In the field of life sciences and artificial intelligence (AI), AI healthcare start-up Behold, AI announced during the visit that it has partnered with India's Apollo Group to provide a diagnostic tool, which can quickly analyse chest x-rays to aid in screening Covid-19 positive patients.

India is the world's biggest democracy and a nation that shares our belief in free enterprise. Deeper trading ties will create opportunities for UK businesses that were simply not there as part of the European Union and set the stage for a much closer partnership with one of the economic powerhouses of the present and future - Liz Truss, Secretary, UK International Trade