There are great complementarities between India's needs and the UK's offerings and hence growth can be foreseen said UKIBC’s first Indian group CEO

There is a possibility of growth in UK-India trade as both countries come out of the coronavirus crisis, said the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC). It further said that the UK businesses are keen to support India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission, quoted a report by The Economic Times.

"UK and India have started looking at opportunities emanating from the business sentiments worldwide to explore manufacturing supply chain possibilities as alternatives to China," UKIBC's first Indian Group CEO Jayant Krishna was quoted as saying in a PTI interview published in the report.

According to the report, the bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 15.5 billion in 2019-20, a dip from the figure of USD 16.87 billion in the previous fiscal.

Krishna said that the UK businesses will look to India as an incremental base for manufacturing and research and development. He added that areas like manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, pharma, space, and defense are ripe for India-UK collaboration in Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission; the report quoted him as saying.

According to The Economic Times report, he said that the introduction of the UK's new point-based immigration system and Graduate Immigration Route will make it easier for Indians to come to work and study in the UK.

"Accordingly, we expect to see growth in UK-India trade as both countries come out of the coronavirus crisis," he added, said the report.