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November 12th, 2015 
Awake Goy 
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : There is business in the air as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the UK. Beyond the spectacular reception and PR about the British crown jewels and a diamond from India, there is business. The UK is among the top European countries for investments while India may offer deals in return. BRICS member India is according to some estimates poised to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030.
In 2014 investment from India in the UK increased by 64%, bringing India almost up on par with the UK’s EU-partner France. A UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) report, earlier this year, showed that India has become the third-largest source of foreign, direct investment in the United Kingdom.
A colossal domestic market is mitigating the slow-down in the growth of fellow BRICS member China’s economy. India’s economy is growing at approximately 7% per year.
The UK India Business Council estimates the total value of Indian investment in the UK in the 2013 -14 fiscal year at some £1.89bn. There are more than 800 Indian-owned businesses in the UK, employing more than 110,000 people.
In 2008 Indian TATA Motors bought Jaguar and Landrover from the US’s Ford Motor Co. Arguably, Jaguar and Landrover and associated jobs are more of a British crown jewel than that disputed Koh-i-Noor diamond.
The UK in return invested some $22.2bn (£14.5bn) in India between 2000 and 2015. That is around 9% of direct foreign investment in India, making the UK the third-largest investor in India after Singapore and Mauritius.
While there is a lot of positioning and PRopaganda disseminated about demands that the UK return the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond from Britain’s crown jewels to India, there are other deals that may be of greater importance.
Some of the deals that are likely to be on the agenda include items such as a renewal of stalled talks about nuclear energy, talks about Hawk trainer aircraft, cooperation with regard to infrastructure development,
Indian references to the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the British crown jewels may be a signal that the days of colonialism are over and that business with India, that could develop into the world’s third-largest economy by 2030 has become a game of give and take. A 2010 understanding on cooperation in the development of nuclear energy stalled, according to impediments in both countries.
India has, meanwhile entered into business with Russia and renewed Indian – US’ nuclear energy business plans after Obama and Modi agreed on a nuclear accident insurance pool that could not even begin to cover the short-term effects of a nuclear disaster. Some would say, that there’s a nuclear elephant in the room and the people of India and those who have justified concerns about nuclear energy have been taken for a ride.
India could need UK investments in infrastructure, and mobile phone giant Vodafone may be one of the hopeful contenders for helping India cover the need for better mobile phone and eventually mobile Internet coverage. Vodafone and its subsidiary airtel internet are already present in India, but the expansion of the business – and by implication the associated infrastructure, has been hampered due to tax disputes.
Some reports suggest that India will sign a deal with BEA Systems, that would include the delivery of 20 Hawk trainer jets. The Modi administration is, however, likely to insist that any such deal would be based on the “Make in India” program introduced by Modi’s government.
BEA faces stiff competition in that regard, considering that India and Russia have a well-developed cooperation with regard to the joint development of fighter jets and other defense industry items. Why Modi was welcomed in the UK with what some media described like “a superstar reception”? Any economist or alert observer who isn’t suffering from a concussion after banging his head into a BRICS wall can figure that out.
CH/L – nsnbc 12.11.2015
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2015/11/12/modi-visits-uk-as-brics-member-india-is-expected-to-expand-investments/
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