Reviewing the India opportunity

As a UK-India Free Trade Agreement draws closer new research confirms India’s strategic importance, with 73% of UK business leaders identifying the country as a target growth market and Metro’s senior executives are preparing local infrastructure to support any acceleration in bilateral trade.

The UK and India recently concluded the 13th round of negotiations and with bilateral trade increasing to £16.5 billion in 2022-23 from £14.2 billion in 2021-22, and expected to reach £36 billion in the current year, the rewards of any FTA are immense.

A Free Trade Agreement will remove tariffs and reduce barriers to trade, simplifying access to India’s sourcing opportunities for importers and its large and growing consumer market for exporters. With 73% of 608 surveyed mid-sized businesses in the UK identifying the country as a target for international growth.

The Metro board has identified India as one of the company’s short to medium term strategic priorities, and committed to the growth of Metro’s Indian based services, capability and resource.

Tom Fernihough, Chief Operational Officer, recently returned from a trip to India to review Metro offices and operations and assess capability to support client activity growth and onboard new exporters and importers.

Commenting on his trip. “It really was a flying visit with six flights over seven days, for five days of visits to our operations in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur and Delhi.”

Combining client meetings, partner meetings and supply chain vendor meetings, Tom and the local management teams reviewed operational processes and cargo handling methods, to identify opportunities to introduce leaner improvements, efficiencies and cost savings.

Tom Fernihough, “Metro’s India capability was already significant and having reviewed the operation there again, I am confident that we have the slickest processes and handling methods to expedite any supply chain, particularly when you factor in the latest iteration of our operating technology, that the Indian team helped define and deploy.”

“There are 26 chapters in the draft FTA, offering significant opportunities for a wide range of industries and sectors, representing some of our biggest verticals including chemical, healthcare, retail and automotive and we look forward to helping them get maximum benefit from this exciting market.”

To discuss trade opportunities in India, or to learn about our in-country capabilities and support, please EMAIL Tom Fernihough, Director.