By IANS,
London : British Trade and Investment Minister Stephen Green will be arriving next week on his first official visit to the country since he took charge Jan 1 and meet with top ministers and officials in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
Lord Green is also expected to interact with a host of top industrialists and corporate chiefs, including Mahindra Group chief Anand Mahindra, Tata group chairman Ratan Tata and ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar, during his March 14-18 visit.
In New Delhi, he will call on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, apart from holding talks with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma, Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy and Urban Development Mnister Kamal Nath, the trade office here said.
India is the 18th largest market for the United Kingdom, for both export and import of merchandise goods. India’s exports from the country in 2009-10 were $6.23 billion and imports were valued at $4.42 billion.
The United Kingdom is also the fourth largest inward investor into India, after Mauritius, Singapore and the US. Its share is above 5 percent of the total foreign investment.
The cumulative total of equity invested in India till September 2010 stood at $6.21 billion. Now India is also emerging as one of the largest investors in Britain, with some big ticket buy-outs such as steelmaker Corus and automakers Jaguar-Land Rover.