India Inc in full bloom, ties up JVs with British corporates

LONDON: Even as business leaders from UK and India gathered for a day-long series of meetings across sectors, a number of deals and collaboration agreements were frozen at the UK-India Investment Summit.

In the presence of the two ministers, Kamal Nath from India and Alistair Darling from the UK, a series of joint ventures, MoUs, and investment plans were announced between India and the UK, both inbound and outbound, across a variety of sectors, and including a whole string of small and medium enterprises as well as larger players. A glimpse at the work in progress:

An MoU between the Confederation of Indian Industry and Imperial College was signed between Mr Melville Guest, Proj David Begg, Sir Richard Sykes (Imperial) and Mr R Seshasayee (president, CII), for various projects including the formation of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The centre will focus on research, education and practice; and the establishment of the Imperial College India Foundation (‘06), to fund scholarships for Indian postgraduate students at Imperial College.

This initiative complements the UK and Indian government effort (UKIERI), which aims to create a ‘step change’ in educational relations between India and the UK and create a long-term partnership in education and research.
* In another deal, UK’s Freeplay Energy Systems and India’s Narang Industries are in discussions to form a joint venture with a contract value of $150m in sales during first three years of agreement.

* Arup, the global engineering and design consultancy, has been appointed to provide full engineering and architectural design services for the construction of a 100,000m2 passenger terminal building and air traffic control complex at the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. Upon completion in ‘08, the airport will serve India’s sixth largest city.

* Rexam, a global consumer packaging company, signed a reaffirmation to set up a joint venture with Hindustan Tin Works for approximately $15m. The plant is India’s first 2-piece beverage can facility and will have a significant impact on the Indian food and drink industry. The facility is due to begin commercial production early in ‘07 with an initial production capacity of 450m cans.

* The UK’s largest single owner family business, Caparo, which has primary business interests in steel, automotive and engineering, is expanding its Indian operations. The company started work in August ‘06 on a consolidated 120-acre site in Chennai to set up an automotive components manufacturing facility.

* Dr Arup Chatterjee, an Indian scientist and a leading global authority on nanometals, has announced that he will be establishing the global headquarters of his start-up company, I-Can Nano, in London with the help of the UK Trade & Investment Global Entrepreneur Programme. The nanotechnology company will also be listed on the London (OFEX) stock market.

* M M Poonjiaji Spices Ltd, a Mumbai-based food processing company, which supplies chutneys, pickles and sauces to companies such as Sharwood and Tilda, is planning to open a repacking unit as phase 1 of their investment plans for the UK market. Poonjiaji are initially planning to invest GBP £3-5m in the project, which is due to create 11 direct jobs.

* Rolta India is planning to expand its UK operations by establishing a development and delivery centre in order to meet increasing customer demand for utility mapping and engineering design services. Rolta plans to increase their UK operation from 100 to 500 staff and to invest GBP 25m over the next three years.