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Initiatives under new UK-India Tech Partnership launched

A SENIOR British minister visited India last weekend to help launch alliances under the UK-India Tech Partnership initiative.

Matt Hancock, the UK’s Digital and Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) secretary, launched the collaboration plan which is hoped will create new deals, jobs and in­vestment for both nations.


The UK-India Tech Partnership was announced in April when the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi made a state visit to Britain.

Hancock confirmed the Part­nership will link the Midlands En­gine with Maharashtra with a fo­cus on low emission and autono­mous vehicles, battery storage and vehicle light-weighting.

He also announced the North­ern Powerhouse, a proposal to boost economic growth in north­ern England, would be linked to Karnataka to work on data, aug­mented and virtual reality, ad­vanced materials and AI.

“The UK and India are global leaders in tech. By deepening our ties we can open up huge oppor­tunities... for both countries,” Hancock said. “Our new UK-India Tech Partnership will not only lay the foundations for new invest­ment, growth and jobs, but it will also boost collaboration on the technologies of the future.”

Hancock is the first minister to visit India following Modi’s visit to the UK for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April.

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