Sheffield businesses to build stronger ties with India
Companies and organisations from across the Sheffield City Region (SCR) in the United Kingdom will build new business relationships in India, following a successful trade mission.
Sir Nigel Knowles, the Sheffield City Region Mayor’s Advisor on International Trade and Investment, headed up a highly successful international trade visit to Pune and Mumbai in India between 25 and 30 November with an ambition to open trading opportunities and job creation between the SCR and India.
Ten delegates from a number of organisations, including Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) joined Sir Nigel on the five-day trade mission, which was organised by the Sheffield City Region in association with the UK Indian Business Council (UKIBC) as part of strengthening relationships between the two trading regions.
Sir Nigel said: “This trade mission allowed us to showcase the Sheffield City Region’s expertise in advanced manufacturing and has created an environment in which our region’s businesses can collaborate even more closely with Indian companies and academic institutions.”
The trade mission saw the delegation visiting a host of advanced manufacturing and academic organisations, including the Automotive Research Authority of India, the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT-Bombay) and Pune College of Engineering, as well as meeting with the HM Trade Commissioner to India and representatives from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. Sir Nigel and the SCR delegates also visited Bharat Forge, which has more than 50 years of manufacturing excellence.
The visit highlighted the Sheffield City Region’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, lightweighting, and engineering, as well as it being a hub of world class research facilities and two leading universities.
The delegation visited an area of India which boasts similar expertise in these sectors, particularly around composites, e-mobility and advanced technology.
India has been an under-exploited export market for the SCR. Whilst the EU accounts for 55% of all goods and services from the SCR, India and China combined accounted for only 6% of the region’s total trade.
In 2015, the Sheffield City Region exported £81m worth of goods to India – making it the region’s 12th largest trading partner. In 2017, Sheffield City Region introduced the strategy: ‘Make in India, Design and Develop with the Sheffield City Region’. Since then, the relationship between the Sheffield City Region and India has grown, with an Indian delegation visiting the region in 2018 and greater trading opportunities opening as a result.
