Scotland trade body plans to diversify business links

The Scotland government is planning to ramp up bilateral trade with India by bringing in more SMEs, big companies and startups.

Scottish Development International India (SDI) Country Manager Rooma Kumar Bussi said with the emergence of new government, Scotland is viewing a change in business mindset in India and tap emerging opportunities in the best suitable way possible.

“We have seen an uplift in business sentiment with the anointment of the Modi-led government. India with its Make in India campaign has really opened its doors for more partnerships and collaborations. The government’s initiatives to erase negatives like red tapism, regulatory bottlenecks and policy paralysis will enhance biz sentiment,” Bussi said.

SDI brought a delegation of ten companies representing various verticals like oil and gas, IT, consulting, healthcare and education.

 “The SDI’s initiative will definitely give us an opportunity to interact with the Indian business community and understand their requirements,” said Glasgow Distillery’s Liam Hughes, a member of the business delegation.

For the last five years, bilateral trade has reached 700 million pounds. “We are witnessing growth of 20-30 per cent annually. This will grow further with more investments from Scotland,” she said.

15 Scottish firms

SDI is working on energy security, oil and gas, wind, wave and tidal energy, deep sea exploration,  high-end engineering works, life sciences, medical technologies and education.

 “Currently, 15 Scottish companies have a presence in India and they include Standard Life Insurance, IES, Pixel and AGGreKo. It will further increase in coming years,” Bussi said.  

Besides participation from Scottish companies in India, SDI is also scouting for investments from Indian companies there. 

“Scotland is an investment-friendly destination and this has been reinforced by the referendum which took place recently. Indian companies like Piramal, Hero BPO, Reid & Taylor, Infosys, Wipro and TCS are doing well there,” she said.

To become a business-friendly destination, the Scottish government gives regional grants of 35 per cent and R&D grant of 35 per cent out of its corporate funds. 

“The government has reduced corporate tax burden to 10 per cent from the earlier 24 per cent and this will impart added advantage to companies to select Scotland instead of London,” she said.

“We have tied up with TiE for helping startups. Here, we would like to associate with Nasscom initiatives also. In Scotland, the startup ecosystem is basically confined to universities.

Quite a few universities have tied up with their counterparts here India. SDI is looking for more opportunities on this front so that more companies can tap the innovations happening in India,” she said.