<div>As the <em>Economist</em> notes, "Today everyone wants to be best pals with India." Certainly, Britain wants to cultivate closer ties with India to secure business opportunities in a fast-growing economy at a time when Narendra Modi has been prioritising other relationships. India is the world's ninth-largest economy and, at 7.4 per cent, has the fastest growth rate in the G-20.</div><div> </div><div>Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooed a gathering of business leaders at London's financial hub Guildhall as he made a push for 'Make in India' campaign. The Prime Minister also listed the achievement of his government and said India's credibility has improved globally in his 18 months in power.</div><div> </div><div>India and Britain agreed on more than £9 billion ($13.7 billion) in commercial deals during a visit by Modi. Agreements include a five-year partnership to develop three Indian cities, a memorandum of understanding to develop nuclear-power plants and a deal to allow Indian Railway bonds to be traded in London.</div><div> </div><div>Vodafone Group Plc, the largest foreign direct investor in India, pledged to invest about £1.3 billion more. This includes £800 million to upgrade its network in India, which is the highest contributor to the group's service revenue, Chief Executive Office Vittorio Colao said in a statement.</div><div> </div><div>India and Britain have agreed on a comprehensive package of collaboration on energy and climate change which includes commercial deals worth £3.2 billion. This is aimed at encouraging the research, development and eventual deployment of clean technology, renewables, gas and nuclear.</div><div> </div><div>Ahead of the visit, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government announced plans to liberalise its foreign direct investment regime in areas including defence, banking and construction. Britain is the third-largest source of FDI in India.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Here are excerpts of the details of the six pacts between India and the UK</strong>:</div><div> </div><div><div><strong>Finance</strong></div><div>Yes Bank and London Stock Exchange (LSE) signed a bond and equity issuance deal in green infrastructure finance and have future plans to issue a green bond to the tune of £300 million.</div><div> </div><div>HDFC has announced the proposal to issue rupee denominated bonds overseas up to $750 million (£490 million) under the RBI guidelines, in one or more tranches. HDFC intends to list the initial issue of bonds for trading on the London Stock Exchange.<br><br><div><strong>Logistics</strong></div><div>TVS is opening a £20 million advanced logistics facility in Barnsley which is expected to create 100 new jobs, and may grow to 500 across the TVS Group over 5 years. <br><br><div><strong>Healthcare</strong></div><div>King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Healthcare Pvt Ltd will open King's College Hospital, Chandigarh. This is the first of a proposed eleven new UK-Indo Institutes for Health that will be developed across India, which, when fully implemented, would amount to a £1 billion investment into India's healthcare system.</div></div><div> </div></div></div><div><strong>Retail</strong></div><div>Merlin Entertainments is to open its first entertainment attraction in India. The first Madame Tussauds on the sub-continent will open in New Delhi in 2017. The company will invest up to £50 million over 10 years with a view to opening more of the company's global brands in India.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Energy</strong></div><div>Lightsource Renewable Energy Holdings has announced a £2 billion investment in India. They will design, install and manage around three gigawatts of solar power infrastructure in India over the next five years. This investment is expected to create 300 jobs and generate £42 million of revenue in the UK.</div><div> </div><div><strong> Other major deals announced included</strong>:</div><div> </div><div><strong>-</strong> Standard Life, Bupa and Aviva to invest a combined total of $365 million in their Indian joint ventures</div><div> </div><div><strong>-</strong> Pact between Britain's cloudBuy for facilitating $5,3 billion worth of transactions using an online marketplace</div><div> </div><div><strong>-</strong> Holland and Barrett International pact with Apollo to open 1,000 stores in India over the next five years</div><div> </div><div><strong>-</strong> Kloudpad Mobility Research's investment in South India to make next generation smart watches, wearables and tablets</div><div> </div><div><strong>- </strong>Wipro's commitment to increases its investment in Britain.</div><div> </div><div>As per the joint statement, Modi and Cmeron also announced three UK-India city partnerships with Indore, Pune and Amaravati to support India's ambitious urban development goals through technical assistance, expertise sharing and business engagement.</div><div> </div><div>They also launched a new Thames-Ganga partnership for healthy river systems.</div><div> </div><div>Modi, who just last week was ranked by Forbes as the world's ninth most powerful person, swept to power in 2014 on promises to develop India's economy and root out the corruption that had crippled the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. But the saffron party suffered a humiliating defeat in Bihar widely seen as a referendum on Modi's popularity. And India's economic growth is slowing, although it still outpaces much of the world. </div><div> </div><div>Modi promised full support for any businesses investing in India. "I assure you of my personal care in making your dreams a reality," he said.</div>
