The desi investors have has emerged as the second largest investor community in the City of London with desi companies led by software major Infosys wooed by the investment fervor generated by the 2012 Olympic Games in the British capital.
Software services firm Infosys leads the charge of inward foreign direct investment made by a total of 28 Indian companies, which generated 429 additional jobs for the British economy in the last year alone, according to latest government figures released here today to mark a year since London hosted one of the world's biggest sporting events.
"India is a very important market for us and these are fantastic results. The Olympics provided the perfect opportunity for Indians to come and experience London and resulted in more Indian companies setting up here," Gordon Innes, the CEO of London and Partners and the Mayor of London's business and promotional organization said.“I had taken the mayor Boris Johnson, to India last year where we held some very important discussions at the national and city level. India has seen phenomenal growth and there are a large number of areas of common interest, such as transport and city planning, where we can work together," he said in reference to the future plans of L&P.
L&P is a not-for-profit public private partnership set up to unlock London to overseas investment.India brought in a large chunk of the 2.5 billion-pound additional foreign investment into the isle since the Games and Indian FDI projects in 2012-13 are estimated to generate 24 million pounds in gross value added for London's economy over the next three years.IT is the key sector in terms of Indian FDI into London, followed by financial services and retail. "The fact that the Olympics were held here generated a lot of positive imagery globally. Our clients employ us because we are at the cutting edge of innovation. We need to be talking to the right people and London & Partners does a good job at helping us with that," Infosys said.
In the financial services sector, Axis Bank stood out for setting up its global operations in London as a direct result of discussions during the mayoral visit to India last November.Cyril Anand, chief executive of Axis Bank UK said, “London has the right mix of potential wholesale and retail business to make it the ideal location for our first international subsidiary. It provides us with a robust regulatory environment which will allow Axis to build on its strong corporate franchise internationally. We look forward to establishing a significant presence in the city." Among some of the other Indian firms to use London as their global expansion point include Gurgaon-headquartered Indiabulls Group offering asset management and realty products, Indian portal for restaurant information Zomato, export house Vijay Enterprises and Delhi-based tech firm Kayako Infotech.
The 2012-13 figures build upon India's historical prominence as an investor into London and Britain at large. The country has consistently ranked in the city's top four investors and created as many as 830 jobs in 2011-12 for the economy.The latest figures were released as part of an overall estimate of the economic impact of the Olympics on the economy of the city. British government research indicated that the British economy has seen a 9.9 billion-pound boost in trade and investment from hosting the Games. "We are harnessing the Olympic momentum and delivering the lasting business legacy of the Games that will help make Britain a winner in the global race," premier David Cameron said in a statement. The report attributes new contracts, additional sales and foreign investment in the last year to the Games, generating an estimated 4,136 jobs.The US remains the biggest investor into London, bringing in 1,694 jobs, with China coming in third with 365 jobs.
