India’s efforts to encourage greater investment from its diaspora in the UK kicked off on Thursday, as Ministry officials pitched the “Make in India” programme in London ahead of Britain’s first regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

Better engagement

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which is set to kick off on Friday, is the first regional one to be held in the UK. Last year a regional Diaspora day was held in Sydney.

The meet aims to identify more specific opportunities for Britain’s 1.5 million-strong Indian community (with its not insignificant share of high net worth individuals, as well as NRIs and Persons of Indian origin) to better engage with India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is set to inaugurate the event. “The Overseas Indians must become a part of India’s new development agenda.” said Prem Narain, secretary at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, and Chair of the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, at an event organised by the OIFC and the CII. “We have a huge Diaspora from this country who had somehow been left out.”

Amitabh Kant, Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and secretaries of other departments, including Upendra Tripathy, Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy outlined the opportunities for greater engagement through the drive.

Impact of campaign

Kant, who previously headed the Incredible India initiative, said the Make in India campaign could have a much bigger impact than its predecessor as it cut across numerous sectors.

“The focus of the Make in India programme is about new processes, new business re-engineering, a focus on opening up new sectors,” he said pointing to the opportunities created in sectors such as rail infrastructure, construction and defense. “This was unimaginable,” he said at a press conference.

He pointed to the opportunities particularly in the new “clusters of urbanisation” that the Government was focussing on, especially the economic corridors being created – including Bangalore Mumbai and Ahmedabad-Kolkata and Chennai.

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