Bangalore among top investors in UK

Not only is Bangalore attracting a whole lot of investments, the city businesses are also investing overseas.

An indication to this is the fact that Bangalore was one of the top sources of Indian FDI into the UK in 2005-06, accounting for 63 per cent of the number of projects into the UK from South India.

The south's 22 projects were behind the West's 39, but ahead of projects from New Delhi (10) and Kolkata (5). The investments from Bangalore contributed significantly to India's FDI into the UK growing by 110 per cent during the last financial year.

Mike Connor, British deputy high commissioner in Southern India, said, "I am delighted that companies from Bangalore are amongst those leading the way for Indian companies investing in the UK. This reinforces how an increasing number of the most successful Indian companies in the South are seeing the UK as an important business partner."

Key Indian investors in the UK in 2005-06 included Infosys, Satyam, MphasiS, Four Soft, Cades Digitech, Aztec Software, Microland, Infinite Computer Solutions, CG Smith Software, Dreamquest Infotech, Shifa Software Solutions and Unified Technologies.

According to the UK Inward Investment Report 2005-06 released on Wednesday, India was the third largest investor in the UK when measured by the number of investment decisions, creating 1,449 jobs (the US and Japan were first and second respectively). The report confirms that the big rise occurred as a result of investors, such as those from Bangalore, taking advantage of the UK's expertise in high value activities such as R&D, science, cutting-edge technology, innovative design and as a base for European headquarters.

Connor added, "We are doubly pleased to hear that India has committed up to £8 million for joint work in research with the UK following meetings of the Indo-UK Science and Innovation Council in London last week. The enhanced fund will be used to support a range of activity from short visits and exchanges to networking workshops, networks of excellence or research consortia with mutual interest. There are opportunities for companies from South India across sectors from chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biomedicine and automotive to telecommunications, software and electronics. They can build partnerships and gain from transfer of knowledge and technology, particularly through R&D investments in the UK."

The UK's success in attracting foreign investment highlights its status as the best place in Europe for setting up business and as a gateway to the European market of 500 million consumers.

In 2005-06 some 1,220 overseas companies from around the world chose to invest in the UK - a 14.3 per cent increase from the previous year.