Indian-owned companies operating in the UK have multiplied in the past year, up from 850 to 900, with a corresponding hike in revenues and job creation figures, according to the latest research released here. The 2022 ‘India Meets Britain Tracker,’ launched on Thursday, revealed these companies employed 141,005 people, up from 116,046 in 2021, and had combined revenues of 54.5 billion pounds, also up from 50.8 billion pounds last year. “India is a very special place, and its growth has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Lord Gerry Grimstone, Minister for Investment in the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT). “This growing, confident, outward-looking India has benefited the world and certainly benefited the UK. Our relationship is defined by our people, our mutual investment, and mutual trade. In the last five years, Indian investment into the UK has more than quadrupled and we calculate that it supports almost half a million jobs on our shores,’ he said, pointing to the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation as the “biggest deal yet to come.”
The Tracker, released annually by professional services firm Grant Thornton and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to analyze the contribution of Indian business to the UK economy, is now in its ninth edition. “The pandemic has created uniquely challenging economic circumstances over the past two years. Despite this, Indian businesses in the UK have succeeded in expanding their combined turnover and increasing the number of jobs they support,’ said Gaitri Issar Kumar, Indian High Commissioner to the UK.
To compile the ‘India meets Britain Tracker 2022’, Grant Thornton said it analyzed data from 900 UK-incorporated limited companies that are owned directly or indirectly, or controlled, by either an Indian-incorporated parent or an Indian citizen resident outside the UK.