India

UK FDI into India has increased steadily and significantly over time from £1.4 billion in 2002, at an average rate of more than 13% per annum to reach a value of £2.3 billion at the end of 2006). (View UK FDI analysis by sector for 2006)

Key points are:

• The ONS data for India looks reliable given the consistent trends over time, including the low and consistent proportion of investments excluded for reasons of confidentiality (Figure 2);
• Investments by UK manufacturing industries are particularly high in India, accounting for around 54% of all UK investment in the country. This is higher than all other SDD+2 countries and the UK global average;
• The most significant sector in India for UK investors has consistently been the food processing sector over each of the last five years, which at the end of 2006 accounted for approximately one-third of all UK investment into India.
• Other major sectors for UK investment include mining and quarrying, real estate and business services, and manufacturing of chemical, plastic and fuel products.
• IRIS Business Services in India reports that India is one of the largest recipients of FDI in the world, receiving $3.75 billion in 2004/05 alone. It also states that the UK is the third largest investor in India with cumulative FDI of US$4.13 billion. The UK is also reported to be one of the major contributors of technology to India with 860 technical collaborations in the past 17 years.