Indian firms invested £4.25 billion in capital expenditure in 2016, and recorded revenues of £47.5 billion, according to a new reported published on Wednesday, highlighting the contribution made to the British economy by Indian companies.
The report — by the CII and Grant Thornton — found that the 800 Indian companies present in the UK employed 110,000 people in Britain, and made substantial investments in their operations in addition to their initial past investments.
“This year’s tracker shows a continuing expansion of Indian companies’ footprint in the UK.
Yet, the UK must not take the presence of Indian companies for granted,” said Anuj Chande, head of the South Asia Group at Grant Thornton.
“In the years ahead, as the Indian economy develops to become one of the largest and most powerful in the world, the opportunities to boost investment into the UK will grow. To realise those opportunities the UK must ensure that, as it attends to its relationship with the wider world post Brexit, it protects and promotes the factors that make it such an attractive destination for Indian investment,” he added.
The report highlighted Britain’s low tax environment and the short period for setting up a company as among the attractive factors.
“The report shows that Indian companies continue to strengthen their economic impact in the UK,” said Shuchita Sonalika, head of the CII in the UK.
“While IT and telecom sectors retain the largest composition we are seeing greater influence of pharmaceuticals, business services, financial services, engineering and energy sectors.”
The report, which tracks the fastest growing Indian companies in the UK, found 55 companies achieving revenue growth rates of over 10 per cent and at least £5 million in revenues (based on accounts up to February this year), with these firms recording an average growth rate of 31 per cent in the year.
The fastest growing was Datamatica Infotech, which provides consulting, IT and other outsourcing services, which saw a revenue growth of 103 per cent, followed by KSK Power Ventur which works in the power generation sector.
Other firms that saw fast growth included Bharti Airtel’s UK operations and the BIO Agency, a digital transformation company acquired by Tech Mahindra last year.