New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS): India-UK relations will touch a new high in the post-Covid world, says a Grant Thornton Bharat-CII Britain Meets India report.

According to the report, India is likely to be a priority country for the UK, especially post Brexit, leading to an enhanced economic partnership.

The strengthening of partnership can be gauged from the developments on the investment front where FDI inflow from the UK to India for a particular year increased from $898 million in 2015-16 to $1,422 million in 2019-20.

The Report covered companies from the UK which continue to grow, invest and expand in India.

"Our research identified 572 UK companies in India with a combined turnover of around Rs 3,390 billion, tax payment of around Rs 173 billion and employing 416,121 people directly. This reflects the important contribution made by the UK companies to the Indian economy as a key ally in India's growth story," said Pallavi Joshi Bakhru, Partner and India-UK Corridor Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP.

Anuj Chande, head of the South Asia Group at Grant Thornton UK LLP, said : "I am delighted that with the launch of this report... we now have a quantitative measurement of the economic contribution of UK companies to India. Together with our India meets Britain tracker report which is in its 7th year, we have a comprehensive picture of the bilateral investment footprint."

The report highlights that Industrial and Business Services are top sectors being eyed by the UK companies. In terms of direction of investment, Maharashtra tops as the leading destination followed by Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka.

The list of 'fastest growing UK companies in India' includes Dyson Technology, Aviva Life Insurance, Diageo Business Services, RMD Kwikform and FMC Technologies, among others. The list of 'top 20 UK companies by revenue' includes Vedanta, Vodafone, Hindustan Unilever, United Spirits India, etc. Also, G4S Group, Vedanta Resources and HSBC Holdings feature in 'top UK employers in India'.

The report said that the strength of the India-UK trade and investment partnership has only increased in the post-Covid world through continued collaboration. India ensured that key supply chains of pharmaceutical products and surgical masks were maintained for the UK and other countries as the two sides collaborated relentlessly in vaccine research, design, and manufacturing.

The report is based on review of 572 companies incorporated in India that are owned or controlled, directly or indirectly from the UK. Additional benchmarks were an annual turnover of more than Rs 500 million, y-o-y revenue growth of at least 10 per cent and a minimum two-year track record of filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in India.

The Report was launched by India's High Commissioner to UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar, UK's High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, Joint Secretary (Western Europe) in Ministry of External Affairs, Sandeep Chakravorty, CII Vice President Sanjiv Bajaj, Grant Thornton Bhara CEO Vishesh C. Chandiok, CEO, and CBI President, Lord Karan Bilimoria, in the presence of over 300 dignitaries, industry and government representatives from both countries.