UKIBC Launches UK-India Technology Futures Report making Strategic Recommendations to Enhance UK-India Partnership
By Trisha Nagpal
UKIBC Launches UK-India Technology Futures Report making Strategic Recommendations to Enhance UK-India Partnership
~The report launched in the presence of Shri. Piyush Goyal is aligned with India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision~
New Delhi, November 27, 2024: The UK India Business Council launched the UK-India Technology Futures Report, in the presence of Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
The Report showcases a small sample of the many ground-breaking India-UK technology partnerships that are creating not just jobs and economic growth in both countries, but also transforming the way we live and, importantly, addressing global challenges such as climate change and energy transition, food security, financial inclusion, and national security.
At the heart of this partnership are businesses and academic institutions from India and the UK, many of which are already collaborating to develop new technologies which benefit people in both countries and are proving to be a force for global good.
The report, launched at the UKIBC’s UK-India Technology Futures Conference, emphasises the UK as a natural partner for India’s vision of Viksit Bharat@2047. It makes a series of recommendations to create deeper UK-India cooperation across areas such as financial inclusion, energy transition, advanced technologies, and R&D. Some of these are:
➢ Financial Services – regulatory alignment between the two countries to enable greater
collaboration and therefore penetration of fintech services, widening access and benefit to
including to MSMEs across India. This collaboration could also extend to the co development of frameworks in areas such as cybersecurity and data protection.
➢ To secure access to critical technologies, both governments should build on the Technology Security Initiative agreed in July 2024 by creating a framework that brings together industry, start-ups, and universities.
➢ To stimulate deeper partnerships on aerospace, defence and security, the two governments should:
o Establish an accelerator programme for high-growth UK firms to enter India;
o Establish an accelerator programme for high-growth Indian firms to enter the UK; and
o Create a policy framework at both sides to ease the transfer of technology to India to
help meet India’s armed forces’ capability needs.
➢ To accelerate energy transition, the governments should establish a platform to:
o Facilitate partnerships between British businesses and Indian industry; and
o Unlock higher levels of green finance from UK financial institutions by expanding India’s
priority sector lending.
The recommendations mentioned in the report are aligned with the Shri Piyush Goyal’s compelling vision for UK-India technology partnership. During his address, he highlighted range of areas where the bilateral partnership can drive not just economic growth and prosperity, but also improve the lives of people in the UK, India and across the world. First, the Minister described how AI and virtual reality collaboration can transform education and training. Second, how a tele-medicine partnership can bring down the cost of healthcare in UK and make quality healthcare available to the remotest parts of India. Third, how the two countries can work together to develop climate modelling tools to help the world
better predict and manage natural disasters. The Minister also highlighted the importance of agri-tech, including the use of precision farming tools and residue free farming to enhance productivity.
Richard McCallum, Group CEO, UK-India Business Council, said, “We at the UKIBC believe that the technology partnerships between India and the UK underpin our shared prosperity and are a force for global good. With the recently signed TSI and the announcement of the resumption of FTA talks, there is a huge amount of positivity and momentum in the economic relationship right now. It is good to see the intent from both governments to strengthen the existing India-UK Technology Partnership to tackle global challenges, including through the development and deployment of emerging technologies.
Our Report showcases exciting technology partnerships between the two countries and outlines recommendations which will support UK-India to cooperate on the technologies of the future, and help address global challenges which require a collaborative response.”
UKIBC believes that India is on the path to becoming the world’s third largest economy and to achieving Viksit Bharat @ 2047, through technology and innovation. The success stories shared in this report show that the UK is a natural partner in this journey.
About the UKIBC
UKIBC is a policy advocacy and strategic consulting not-for-profit, with a mission to grow the UK-India trade and investment. To do that, we provide strategic and practical support to businesses and universities to explore, enter, and expand in both markets. We want to help more UK businesses to uncover opportunities and succeed in India. Business looking at the India opportunity need to develop a strategy based on factual market insights,
and then implement that strategy. The UK India Business Council has the knowledge, networks, and people to help do this.
UK-India collaboration creates prosperity and jobs in both countries, and UK and Indian business have ideas, technology, services and products which improve lives. We work closely with the UK and Indian governments, the devolved administrations, England’s city regions, and State governments across India. We believe a strong UK-India economic partnership is a force for positive change globally.
For more information, please contact:
Nishtha Grover
Senior Manager – Communications, UK India Business Council
Mobile – +91 9818021223
Email- Nishtha.grover@ukibc.com
