UK FOREIGN SECRETARY MET KARNATAKA CM TO BOOST EDUCATION & CLIMATE CHANGE

GG NEWS BUREAU

New Delhi,17th Dec

UK’s CDC Group, India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the Green Growth Equity Fund announce £290m ($386m) investment to boost green energy transition.

The UK and India will co-invest £1.5m in the Neev fund to support green recovery.

 

The UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today (Thursday, 17 December) concluded his three-day visit to India with a series of agreements signed in Bengaluru signalling the UK’s strong partnership with India on climate change.

 

Mr Raab met the Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S. Yediyurappa to discuss strengthening UK-Karnataka relations in key areas, including higher education, trade and investment. During the meeting he oversaw the signing of a British Council-Karnataka Government MoU which will accelerate cooperation in Higher Education partnerships, as well as increase student exchanges between Karnataka and the UK.

 

Speaking at a sustainability showcase held at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The UK-India partnership is helping to create a cleaner, greener planet and our joint investment in the Neev fund will help give entrepreneurs and their ideas the opportunity to grow.

 

“I saw this collaboration in action when I met entrepreneurs who are already at the cutting edge of India’s clean growth transition and heard about projects like Blue Planet, which is finding environmentally friendly solutions to waste management and Chakr, which is working to reduce emissions from diesel generators.”

 

The previous evening, the Foreign Secretary met key members of the Indian business community to discuss trade opportunities.

 

The UK Foreign Secretary was in India for a three-day visit (14-17 December) to Delhi and Bengaluru. During his visit he met PM Modi, other Government of India Ministers and visited a vaccine distribution centre.

 

The Neev Infrastructure Equity Fund was launched by the UK and Indian Prime Ministers in 2015. Backed by the State Bank of India (SBI), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Neev Fund has invested in a portfolio of ten pioneering infrastructure service companies in the north of India. The additional capital will help these companies build back greener. The Foreign Secretary met two Neev Investee Companies, seeing how British and Indian technology and entrepreneurs can combine to boost mutual economic growth and prosperity as a global force for good. 

 

In Bangalore, the Foreign Secretary also met research staff at the Indian Institute of Science working on a £13m research project which will deliver two demonstration buildings in India capable of meeting their own energy needs at the same time as supplying energy to the local grid. This is a Global Challenges Research Fund project.