India and the UK announced a series of shared economic commitments Monday, including India’s consideration of its domestic companies listing on the London Stock Exchange.
That news was part of a package of plans unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of India after meetings of the 12th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD).
Also, the new UK-India Pensions and Insurance Partnership will support the growth of the sector in both countries, according to a UK statement.
“The partnership will focus on knowledge sharing, growing bilateral investment, and diversifying risk…” a news release said. “Investment between the UK and India so far already supports over half a million jobs across both economies, and UK businesses sold goods and services worth around £15 billion to India in 2022.”
Hunt welcomed India’s confirmation to explore London as a permitted jurisdiction for overseas direct listings of securities. “I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made through the UK-India EFD this time,” Hunt said in the release. “It’s a big step forward to hear India confirming that they’ll explore the London Stock Exchange as an international destination for the direct listing of Indian companies.”
According to the release, other major announcements as part of the EFD include:
- The signing of the UK guarantee to the World Bank to unlock an additional $1 billion of green financing in India. This will promote clean energy investment and support green growth targets, accelerating India’s climate transition and ability to meet COP26 commitments. It is hoped that it will encourage other international partners to support India and shape the world’s climate transition.
- Agreement to explore new investment opportunities in areas of shared priority, including leveraging institutional capital to invest in climate adaptation and green businesses in India. This builds on the success of the Green Growth Equity Fund – India’s first dedicated climate change fund backed by British International Investment.
The EFD follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to India for the G20 summit, where he announced that the UK will provide $2 billion to the Green Climate Fund – the biggest single funding commitment the UK has made to help the world tackle climate change, the release said.
Bill Winters, CEO of the bank Standard Chartered and UK Chair of the India-UK Financial Partnership, said in the news release: “India and the UK are natural partners, and there are valuable opportunities for us to learn from our respective successes and benefits to be gained by harnessing our full potential.”
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