India trade deal to create over 2,000 UK tech roles

The flags of India and the UK side by side

India-based companies Infosys and HCL Technologies will together create 2,000 new digital jobs in the UK as part of government efforts to create a stronger UK-India relationship.

This comes off the back of a new £1 billion UK-India trade and investment deal to be announced today by PMs Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi at a virtual meeting.

They are also set to agree on an Enhanced Trade Partnership and commit to a UK-India Free Trade Agreement in the future.

The new package includes over £533 million of new Indian investment into the UK, covering vital sectors such as health and technology. The package will create 6,500 new jobs around the UK, 2,000 of which will be created by Infosys and HCL. Infosys has said that these jobs will be created over the course of the next three years.

Other Indian tech companies are set to create jobs as well, including MPhasis, which will create 1,000, Wipro which will create 500, and Mastek, which will create 357.

Infosys, which is chaired by Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s father in law N. R. Narayana Murthy, will also partner with BP to decarbonise the company’s 11 campuses across India. It was also revealed that Johnson spoke to the CEOs of leading Indian tech firms and investors such as Infosys and HCL last week.

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“Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer,” said PM Boris Johnson. “Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies.

Last week, the heads of Google and Microsoft announced they would help fight the growing coronavirus crisis in India. Google announced £13 million in new funding for the country, to help families hit hardest by the crisis and to aid UNICEF to acquire urgent medical supplies.

Zach Marzouk

Zach Marzouk is a former ITPro, CloudPro, and ChannelPro staff writer, covering topics like security, privacy, worker rights, and startups, primarily in the Asia Pacific and the US regions. Zach joined ITPro in 2017 where he was introduced to the world of B2B technology as a junior staff writer, before he returned to Argentina in 2018, working in communications and as a copywriter. In 2021, he made his way back to ITPro as a staff writer during the pandemic, before joining the world of freelance in 2022.