Britain makes profit on Indian aid for first time
The Telegraph understands that figures to be revealed for the first time on Tuesday will show that the UK is making a financial return on development funding sent to the country.
It follows years of criticism that Britain is giving aid money to India at all, given that it can afford its own space programme.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annual report will confirm that the UK spends millions on climate-related projects in India, which it is able to make a return on.
But in what is believed to be the first time since the end of the Raj in 1947, these investments have brought a £13m profit in 2024/25.
This is because the spending has created new markets and jobs for the UK, at the same time as helping to tackle climate change.
The year before, Britain sent £37m to New Delhi.
Sir Keir Starmer announced earlier this year that the aid budget will drop to 0.3 per cent of national income from 2027 to fund increased defence spending.
This is less than half the 0.7 per cent target Britain is signed up to.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, wants to see the UK secure more of a return on its investment as part of a new modernised approach.
Both he and Baroness Chapman of Darlington, the development minister, have spoken in recent weeks about how the UK is moving from its role as an aid donor to one as a partner and investor.
The FCDO accounts will show that most of the UK's aid spend on tackling global poverty around the world up until now does not lead to a financial return.
India will be the only country listed in the FCDO's accounts to have a negative aid spend.
It is expected that later this week, Lady Chapman will outline plans to make sure every penny of the aid budget has an impact, such as by saving lives through vaccines or creating economic growth, which benefits both the UK and its aid recipients.
Projected aid spend for countries for 2025/26 is also due to be published in Tuesday's annual accounts, although these figures are provisional and could change over the year.
But the aid spent for India in 2025/26 is also ultimately expected to be negative.
While the FCDO hands out the vast majority of aid money, some other departments, such as business, also hand out aid cash.
In 2012, Pranab Mukherjee, the then-Indian finance minister, sparked anger when he described British aid money as 'peanuts'.
In the same year, the British government pledged to end bilateral aid to India by 2016 as part of a move away from funding middle-income countries. Despite this, millions of pounds have still poured in.
In 2023, India launched a spacecraft to the far side of the moon, making it only the fourth in the world to land an object on the lunar surface.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Global News Podcast Trump orders India tariff hike to 50% for buying Russian oil
US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order hitting India with an additional 25% tariff over its purchases of Russian oil. That raises the total tariff on Indian imports to the US to 50% - among the highest rates imposed by Washington. India has called the taxes unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. Also: Donald Trump says there's a good chance he will meet President Putin of Russia soon to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, and Italy gives final approval for world's longest suspension bridge to Sicily. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rayner asks China to explain redacted mega-embassy plans
Angela Rayner has given China two weeks to explain why parts of its plans for a new mega-embassy in London are deputy prime minister's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government sent a letter asking for further information and requested a response by 20 August, the BBC understands. Beijing's plans for the new embassy have sparked fears its location - very near London's financial district - could pose an espionage risk. Residents nearby also fear it would pose a security risk to them and attract large protests. The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in London for comment. A final planning decision on the controversial plans will be made by 9 September, the BBC a letter seen by the PA news agency, Rayner, who as housing secretary is responsible for overseeing planning matters, asks planning consultants representing the Chinese embassy to explain why drawings of the planned site are blacked Home Office and the Foreign Office also received copies of the notes that the Home Office requested a new "hard perimeter" be placed around the embassy site, to prevent "unregulated public access", and says this could require a further planning are concerns, held by some opponents, that the Royal Mint Court site could allow China to infiltrate the UK's financial system by tapping into fibre optic cables carrying sensitive data for firms in the City of campaigners from Hong Kong also fear Beijing could use the huge embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them. Last month, the UK condemned cash offers from Hong Kong authorities for people who help in the arrest of pro-democracy activists living in Britain. Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: "No surprises here - Labour's rush to appease Xi Jinping's demands for a new embassy demonstrated a complacency when it came to keeping our people safe. Having deluded themselves for so long, they've recognised we were right to be vigilant."Responding to security concerns earlier this week, the Chinese embassy told the BBC it was "committed to promoting understanding and the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Building the new embassy would help us better perform such responsibilities".China bought the old Royal Mint Court for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the complex will be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes plan involves a cultural centre and housing for 200 staff, but in the basement, behind security doors, there are also rooms with no identified use on the application for the embassy had previously been rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over safety and security concerns. It resubmitted an identical application in August 2024, one month after Labour came to power. On 23 August, Sir Keir Starmer phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping for their first talks. Sir Keir confirmed afterwards that Xi had raised the embassy has since exercised her power to take the matter out of the council's hands amid attempts by the government to engage with China after a cooling of relations during the final years of Conservative Party ministers have signalled they are in favour if minor adjustments are made to the plan.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour's homelessness minister 'threw out FOUR tenants then raised rent on her London home by £700'
Labour 's homelessness minister has been accused of 'extreme hypocrisy' after she allegedly threw out her own tenants and then raised rent by £700 a month. Landlord MP Rushanara Ali told tenants their lease would not be renewed and gave them four months' notice to get out of the £3,300-a-month property, a renter has claimed. But just four months after the group's departure, the four-bedroom townhouse, less than a mile from London 's Olympic Park, was reportedly back on the market - only this time for £4,000 per month. A source close to Ms Ali insisted the tenants were offered the chance to stay on a rolling contract prior to the house being put up for sale, after they were told the tenancy would not be renewed. They added the property was relisted only after Ms Ali did not find a buyer, the i Paper reports. But Laura Jackson, a self-employed restaurant owner and one of renters in the property, had a different view. Ms Jackson, 33, claimed she had received an email in November telling her the lease would not be renewed - and that she and the other occupiers had four months to leave. Only weeks later she saw the property back up for sale at the higher price of £700. The i said the new tenants confirmed they had moved in 'four or five months ago' and were paying the higher figure. Ms Jackson said: 'It's an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion.' It comes as Labour's renters' Rights Bill, set to become law next year, prohibits landlords from relisting a property with higher rent until at least six months after tenants have moved out - where they have ended a tenancy in order to sell a property. Ms Ali has also previously spoken out against 'private renters being exploited' and insisted her Government will 'empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases'. But Conservative shadow Housing Secretary, James Cleverly, said Ms Ali ought to consider her position as the allegations 'would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy and she should not have the job as homelessness minister'. The property had been managed on behalf of the Bethnal Green and Stepney MP by two lettings agencies - Jack Barclay Estates and Avenue Lettings. At the time the tenants' contract ended, the firms also attempted to charge the tenants nearly £2,000 for the house to be repainted and £395 for professional cleaning. Landlords are prohibited from charging tenants for professional cleaning or to repaint a home under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, unless there has been serious damage. Minor scratches or scuffs to paint work all come under the umbrella of 'reasonable wear and tear', according to the Act. Ms Jackson described the experience as 'really stressful' and claimed the property was 'not clean when [they] moved in'. But mysteriously, the charges were dropped when Ms Jackson told the agencies she was aware their landlord was a Labour MP. She said: 'If we hadn't known the charges were unlawful, we would have had to pay them. It's exploitative.' Ms Jackson, a Labour voter, added she believed it to be 'morally wrong' that MPs can be landlords, in particular in their own areas, and dubbed it a conflict of interest. It is understood Ms Ali ensured the cleaning and repainting charges were dropped when she was told about them by her agency. The property is currently listed for sale at £894,995 - more than £300,000 what Ms Ali paid for it in 2014, according to the Land Registry. It was originally put up for sale at £914,995 last November before the price was reduced in February. The rental property is one of two owned by Ms Ali, according to the MP's register of interests. Ms Ali has served as Labour's minister for homelessness since the party's election win in July 2024. The Government previously said the end of a private rental contract is 'one of the leading causes of homelessness'. Ms Ali sung the praises of the Renters Rights' Bill in March as she said it would 'tackle the root cause of homelessness'. Under the bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, landlords may only ask tenants to leave if there has been antisocial behaviour or if they need to sell the property, or if the landlord or a family member needs to move in. Fixed-term tenancies are also set to be banned under the new legislation. Ben Twomey, the chief executive of Generation Rent, called the allegations 'shocking a wake-up call'.
