Fm Exhorts British To Set Up Shop In India

British companies are household names in India. But nothing new is coming. There is an absence of British industry in manufacturing, Chidambaram said at a Confederation of Indian Industry luncheon attended by Bank of England governor Eddie George and Britain's top corporate czars.

During his two-day trip to Britain, Chidambaram has met the cream of British industry at a string of luncheons, business breakfasts and one-to-one meetings.

Chidambaram kicked off his two-day mission to hardsell India in the UK at a luncheon hosted by the CII for the top brass of British industry including Glaxo chairman Sir Colin Corness, Hanson Group deputy chairman Lord Glenarthur, BOC chief executive officer S D Rosenkernz, GEC managing director George Simpson and National Power chairman John Baker.

 

Yesterday, Chidambaram plunged into a second day of high-powered engagements by meeting Unilever's new Chairman Niall Fitzgerald at a breakfast hosted by Goldman Sachs chairman Peter Sutherland.

Later he was the chief guest at a luncheon attended by BAT managing director Martin Broughton and the chairmen of Roll-Royce, Coats Viyella, Reckitt & Colman, Cable & Wireless and the TI Group.

Also present were the chiefs of Britain's newly privatised giants like Thames Water and the British Airports Authority which are aggressively scouting for ways to expand internationally.

Chidambaram is believed to have pointed out that many of Britain's most cash-rich companies like British Telecom and British Gas have not been looking seriously at India. He said many British companies like Glaxo and ICI are household names in India. However, he pointed out, nothing new is coming.

On Thursday, the Finance Minister met nearly 150 pension and provident fund managers and other portfolio investors at ameeting organised by BZW and SBI European Bank. He assured investors that he was battling to keep the fiscal deficit to 5 per cent this year.

It is difficult but I have set a target and I ill try to keep it.

Chidambaram said he was confident about brining the fiscal deficit to 4 per cent over the next four-years.

At a press conference, finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia painted a rosy picture about India's foreign debt and insisted that it was not unmanageable.

He insisted that a large portion of the foreign debt is at highly concessional rates.

The debt position is actually good. There are some people who have the fundamentalist notion that it is bad to have any debt, he said.

Ahluwalia said the insurance sector is being opened up on schedule. By the next budget, we will have a timetable for the insurance sector, he said.

The finance minister also met non-resident Indians on Friday and discussed problems relating to NRI investment in India. On Thursday, he had met Britain's trade minister Ian Lang.nc"-->