77 years after Independence, how India Inc drives UK's economy

From India being ruled by the British, to India Inc powering the UK’s economy much has changed since Independence.

The latest acquisition by an Indian firm came on Monday when Bharti Enterprises announced it would buy a 24.5 per cent stake in British telecommunications firm BT group worth 3.2 billion pounds (around $4 billion).

Bharti Enterprises has announced it will buy out the British company’s top investor Patrick Drahi.

But how does India Inc drive the UK economy?

Let’s take a closer look:

Nearly 1,000 firms, $1.5 billion in taxes

The UK today is home to 971 Indian-owned firms, research from accounting firm Grant Thornton has showed.

Thornton published the details in the 11th edition of its India meets Britain Tracker, which was developed in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The companies employed 118,430 people in the UK and have a combined revenue of around $87 billion.

Those numbers are up from 2023 when India had 954 firms in the UK that employed 105,931 people were generating a combined revenue of $64 billion.

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They also paid $1.50 billion in corporation tax compared to $1.2 billion in 2023.

According to Grant Thornton, financial services companies comprises six per cent of all tracker companies.

That figure was at just one per cent in 2023.

Five of the six financial services – India Infrastructure Finance Company UK Ltd, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India (UK), Bank of Baroda UK Ltd and Punjabi National Bank (International Ltd) – are owned by the Centre.

Grant Thornton also for the first time ever identified 100 Indian companies that grew at a rate of over 10 per cent.

These fastest-growing firms had an average revenue growth rate of 48 per cent.

They had a combined turnover of $54.86 billion – a 70 per cent increase over the 2023 turnover which was at $32 billion.

Prominent examples of Indian-owned companies include St James Court Hotel which is owned by The Indian Hotels Co Ltd (IHTL.NS) and is part of the Taj chain of hotels, EET fuels, which focuses on decarbonisation efforts in the UK, is owned by Indian conglomerated Essar Group.

Several major pharma firms also operate in the UK including Dr Reddy’s, Cipla and Glenmark. Some of these companies focus on generic medicines and supply medicines to the NHS.

Vedanta Resources, owned by Indian businessman Anil Agarwal, is headquartered in London and was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange.

India is also the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment in the UK.

India in 2023 was the source of 118 FDI projects in the UK – which created 8,384 new jobs, as per figures from The Department for Business and Trade.

India is now the West Midlands’ leading source of FDI.

So much so that the region has sent delegations to India to better existing ties and boost further investment.

Indian firms in the UK

A number of Indian firms including Tata Group, Reliance Industries and Wipro have made major acquisitions in the UK. Let’s take a look at them

Tata Group

The Indian business behemoth owns the UK-based luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, while Tata Steel has plants in Britain, including the Port Talbot facility.

In 2023, Tata announced a more than 4 billion pound ($5.10 billion) investment in a UK electric car battery factory.

Reliance Industries

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd bought British battery technology company Faradion Ltd for $135 million in 2021.

Reliance Brands Ltd acquired a 100 per cent stake in the 259-year-old British toy store chain Hamleys from C Banner International Holdings in 2019.

Wipro

Indian IT firm Wipro acquired Capco, a UK-based management consultancy firm in a $1.45 billion deal in 2022.

Eicher Motor

The iconic British motorcycle manufacturing company Royal Enfield was bought out by Eicher Motor Group in 1994 and is now headquartered in Chennai.

Founded in 1901 in Worcestershire, England, it is the oldest global motorcycle brand in continuous production.

Mahindra and Mahindra LTD

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd bought BSA Motorcycles in 2021 and brought the defunct motorcycle brand back into circulation after a nearly 50-year production halt.

Standing for Birmingham Small Arms Company Ltd, BSA was founded in Birmingham in 1861, for the production of firearms and is globally known for its motorcycles now.

TVS Motor Co

The automobile group acquired the iconic British brand Norton in 2020. In fiscal 2023, the company also bought a 70 per cent stake in EBCO Ltd for producing and distributing electric bikes in Britain.

UK Fintech

Indian investment group Wadhawan Global Capital was a lead investor in a 32 million pound fundraise by British digital bank Zopa in 2017

Home away from home

Lots of Indians, especially High-Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) are also making the UK their home away from home.

Billionaire Adar Poonawalla, for example, in 2023 purchased a 25,000 square foot mansion near London’s Tony Hyde Park for $176 million.

As per Financial Times, that was the most expensive home sold in London that year and the second-most expensive property ever sold in the city.

Billionaire Ravi Ruia also purchased a London mansion in July 2023 for $144 million.

Ruia picked up the Hanover Lodge mansion overlooking Regent’s Park at 150 Park Road from Russian property maven Andrey Goncharenko, as per Bloomberg.

The purchase was one of the London’s biggest residential deals in years.

Other corporate titans such as Lakshmi Mittal and Neeraj Kanwar also own property in London.

“Many Indians own estates, marquee properties in the heart of London. The city offers Indian UHNIs a certain quality of life, a lifestyle for themselves and the next generation, great connectivity to other global cities, a strong currency and a certain comfort factor considering that several Indians are settled there,” Ashwin Chadha, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty, told Hindustan Times Digital.

With inputs from agencies