Indian buyers allowed to import in Rupees

The UK government is doubling national credit support for British businesses exporting to India, Britain’s international trade minister, Liam Fox, announced in London, during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Fox said that the UK’s national export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), has more than doubled its financial support to enable UK businesses to trade with India.

UK companies exporting to India as well as Indian buyers of UK goods and services will get a support of 4.5 billion pounds.

Fox and Prabhu held talks as part of the 12th meeting of the UK-India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to discuss greater cooperation between the two countries and identify barriers to trade and investment.

UKEF support is made available in Indian rupees, allowing Indian buyers to access finance in their own currency, which makes sourcing from the Britishers even more competitive.

“For the first time in 40 years, the UK is preparing for its own independent trade policy, and expanding our bilateral trade and investment with India will be central to that task.

“It’s in our shared interest to boost prosperity, generate jobs, develop skills, and enhance the competitiveness of both our countries,” said Fox.

According to the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT), the India-UK trade was worth 15.7 billion pounds in 2016, with UK exports amounting to 5.8 billion pounds.

In 2016, UK investment in India was 13.2 billion pounds versus India’s 1.5 billion pounds in UK.

There is huge potential to expand bilateral trade and investment as the UK prepares to leave the European Union (EU), said DIT said.

The JETCO meeting also UK and Indian businesses interaction. UK engineering consultancy Arup and India’s Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) have discussed cooperation in growing sectors such as advanced manufacturing and smart cities. fii-news.com