Actual impact of India-U.K. trade deal will come through over the next year: British Deputy High Commissioner

The Hindu

21-05-2025

Chandru Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka and Kerala, on Wednesday said the impact of the India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would come through over the next year or so.
Mr. Iyer, speaking at the launch of Imperial College London's new science hub — Imperial Global India — in Bengaluru said the FTA would help to draw growth in both countries and increase trade and investments from the current level of around £44 billion to reach up to almost £70 billion.
'It is also expected to have an effect on our GDP back home in the U.K. by up to £5 billion. I am sure it will have a similar impact on the Indian ideas,' he said.
On the timeframe when the FTA would come into effect, he said trade deals have a process to follow.
'So at this point of time, as we speak, what we call the legal scrubbing of the documents is happening, and it will happen for the next few weeks. Then, in the next few weeks or months, the two Prime Ministers will get together and sign the dotted line and that is when this trade deal becomes a reality. From there on, the document needs to be ratified by both parliaments, which will take another few months, and we hope to see the actual impact of this trade deal come through over the next year or so,' Mr. Iyer said.
He added that once the FTA comes into effect, a glass of scotch whisky in India is going to get cheaper, and Jaguar Land Rover will also get cheaper here. 'This is great news for all budding entrepreneurs in the city,' he added.
Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, speaking on the occasion, said science and innovation must be the cornerstone of the India-U.K. relationship.
'As we look towards 2040, it becomes clearer that science and innovation must be the cornerstone of our bilateral relationship and a beacon for building global resilience,' he said.
He added that today we face unprecedented grand challenges like potable water, clean air, education, renewable energy, healthcare, including vaccines for dengue and chikungunya, robust infrastructure, climate change, food insecurity, and the digital divide.
'These are not the problems of any one nation, these are problems of our planet, our world, and to solve it we must move beyond transactional partnership to transformative ones,' he added.
Imperial College London launches new science hub in Bengaluru
The Imperial College London has launched its new science hub in Bengaluru. The college said that research programmes with Indian partners would focus on helping to address some of the world's most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance.
The college said the hub, which is being established as a liaison office, would support joint research projects, long-term collaborations, student scholarships, collaborative PhD programmes, and fellowships.
Some of the initiatives include the India Connect Fund, which will support up to 25 joint research projects every year between Imperial and partners in India in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum science, biotech, and clean energy. The Future Leaders Scholarship programme for Indian scientists will support 75 STEM students over the next five years. Establishment of six high-impact Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Global Faculty Fellowships with the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Indian Institute of Science to develop a London-Bengaluru AI in Science Network are among the other initiatives.