Indian companies second biggest investors in London

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 23 November 2007, 20:30 IST
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New Delhi: Indian companies are second only to the U.S. firms in the number of projects being executed in London, which is the biggest destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) among European cities. About 36 percent of Indian investments in Europe are directed to London. The number of projects executed by Indian companies have increased ten-fold in the past ten years says Think London, a UK-based semi government agency engaged in promoting the city as an investment destination. "We are working with 19 Indian projects, which have a gross value addition of Pounds 22 million and have created 170 jobs. But the actual number of Indian projects is much more," Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London. According to Charlton, the majority of projects are in the technology space, followed by financial business and creative fields, which include animation. In a survey released by Think London, 61 percent of Indian and the U.S. companies operating in the city said that the return on investments and revenue growth was the highest for operations based in London than in any other European city. "Four times as many the U.S. and Indian companies in London than those in other European cities feel that their return on investment is significantly higher as a result of their presence in the city," the report said. More over, four out of five Indian and the U.S. companies said that their revenue growth was much faster than their offices in other European cities. According to the survey London based offices of over 50 percent of the Indian and the U.S. companies posted a better revenue growth than their other offices in Europe. "This is significant because the usual perception is that the cost of investment in London is high. The survey results imply that the initial high costs of investments in London is offset by high returns on investment and revenue growth," said Charlton. He also pointed out that between 2007 and 2012 there would be an investment opportunity of $80 billion in London.