Indian-origin deputy mayor says London is open

London remains the best place to do business, even post-Brexit, says Sadiq Khan

London's Indian-origin deputy mayor for business on Sunday left for India with the message of 'London is open' for Indian businesses and will also explore opportunities for a tie-up in the Smart Cities initiative.

Rajesh Agrawal, who will attend the India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi to be opened by British Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, will also be visiting his hometown of Indore for the first time since his appointment at City Hall by London mayor Sadiq Khan.

"I want to reassure India that London remains the best place to do business, even post-Brexit," he said.

"India is one of the most important countries for the UK and, of course, for London. Indian businesses are extremely important to London's economy. India is the second largest source of foreign investment to the city," the 39-year-old entrepreneur said.

In reference to his visit to Madhya Pradesh, he added: "I am hugely excited about visiting my hometown. Indore is among the 100 cities selected by India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Smart Cities initiative and it is one of the three cities being supported by the UK.

"I would like to explore how London can collaborate on this initiative because we have some fantastic expertise in the field of smart cities."

Agrawal said he was disappointed with the June referendum favouring the Brexit but his mission now was to ensure London's interests are safeguarded.

"London is a great city and we must make sure that Brexit does not change that. London contributes about one-third of all the taxes in the UK. It contributes to about one-quarter of all the GDP and its population is more than Scotland and Wales put together.

"It is very important that London has a strong voice in any kind of negotiations because it will impact the city hugely. If it impacts London, it will impact the whole country because London is the economic engine of the UK," he said.