According to the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), British defence companies are planning to expand their operations in India, either by strengthening existing ties or

making new investments, as part of a wider effort to diversify supply chains. The UK has been seeking to deepen economic, defence, and security ties with India and committed to closer links with the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, it has also emphasized the challenges posed by China as an “epoch-defining challenge” to the world order.

Richard McCallum, the CEO of UKIBC, stated that a group of 22 British defence firms, with a combined revenue of around $60 billion, are focused on doing business with and in India. Eleven of these firms have already established joint ventures or subsidiaries in India, and all are keen to do more, he added. BAE Systems, which has an Indian unit, MBDA, which has a venture with Larsen & Toubro, and Rolls-Royce, which is looking to collaborate on jet engine technology, are among those with a presence in India's aerospace and defence sector.

McCallum did not disclose which companies would make new investments or with which Indian firms they may be negotiating. He emphasized that it is vital to integrate India into the supply chain. India and Britain are also in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement that could potentially boost annual bilateral trade by billions of dollars.

According to Richard Heald, the UKIBC Chair, sustainable energy and green finance are among other areas of collaboration. However, past decisions on retrospective taxes and issues surrounding the enforcement of contracts have created challenges for British firms operating in India. While the Indian government has rectified some of these issues, investors remain cautious, and the UKIBC hopes to see greater clarity on the protection of investments to boost confidence further.

Heald also stated that India's disputes with British firms, which took several years to resolve, have “cast a long shadow on the operating environment.” Nonetheless, since then, significant strides have been made in this regard. Photo by AddendumM, Wikimedia commons.