When asked whether any discussions happened about Tata Steel, Sitharaman said, “No”.
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According to a recent survey by FICCI, Indian investments to United Kingdom are likely to plummet following its exit from the EU.
Following Britain’s referendum vote last month to exit the European Union, the country is left with the huge task of forging fresh trade agreements with individual countries as a non-bloc member.
The EU has trade agreements with 52 countries and it is expected the United Kingdom will need to re-negotiate these as part of Brexit.
“India and United Kingdom already have a very strong trade and investment relations and we are looking at how we can go further and look forward to working with her”, he told reporters.
It said: “Alongside visiting Delhi, the Business Secretary will also be in Mumbai where he will meet senior Tata Group board members to discuss the ongoing sale of their United Kingdom steelmaking assets”.
Tata is now expected to announce that it will sell its speciality steel business, which employs 2,000 workers, but will leave the fate of its main operations still hanging.
During his discussions with Jaitley and Sitharaman, he also apprised them of how Britain plans to approach its business and economic ties with its partner countries even as he urged investments from Indian industry, according to sources.
Tata Steel officials confirmed Javid’s meeting with Tata Steel senior management and said that talks included on the issue of the company’s proposed sale of its steel assets in Britain but refused to share further details as the board meeting was slated later in the day.
“Following the referendum result, my absolute priority is making sure the United Kingdom has the tools it needs to continue to compete on the global stage”. Until now, Britain negotiated its trade agreement with countries through the EU. “There is great potential for goods and services trade between India and the United Kingdom, and services in particular with us being a member of the Commonwealth”, she added.
India has received United States dollars 23.10 billion FDI from Britain during April 2000 and March 2016.
She said the United Kingdom is one of the big components in the European Union and through this, India has trade relations with the EU. India has also emerged as the third largest source of FDI for the United Kingdom.
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On its part, Britain is likely to push for more access to India’s financial services market.
