The award-winning Manchester India Partnership (MIP) was established in February 2018 to unite private businesses, academia and the public sector across India and Greater Manchester to build and strengthen trade, investment, cultural, and educational ties.
Established as one of the UK’s primary sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) and one of the world’s fastest growing economies, India’s ambitions complement the rich history and continual innovation of the UK’s fastest growing city, Manchester.
Increased Connectivity
Establishing direct connectivity between Manchester and India has been the top priority for the MIP. As the sixth largest gateway to India in Europe, the strong underlying business and diaspora links between the UK North and India are driving a continued requirement for a direct route. The MIP supported the acquisition and launch of Jet Airways, Manchester to Mumbai in November 2018. This was one of the most successful direct flights to ever launch from Manchester Airport achieving over 90% load in its 3 months of service. The MIP continue to work closely with Manchester Airport to secure a new direct route which has the potential to unlock significant bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
Trade and Investment
Initiatives backed by Indian government, such as Digital India, Make in India, and Clean Energy India, align perfectly with Greater Manchester’s research and innovation strengths in health, technology, advanced manufacturing and energy – creating huge opportunities for collaboration across trade and investment.
Research and Innovation
The enhanced connectivity also facilitates knowledge sharing between Manchester and India, which has already augmented the capacity on both sides to conduct innovative research and development and use cutting-edge technologies effectively. Over the last two years, Indian owned IT services giant, Tech Mahindra has opened and continued to grow its ‘headquarters of the North’ collaborating with Salford University and other digital experts to provide an innovation hub to technology start-ups looking to test and explore new ideas and concepts.
Education and Skills
The Manchester India Partnership facilitates new opportunities for students in Manchester and India including knowledge exchange and employment opportunities. This has already been demonstrated through the University of Bolton’s partnership with the Karnataka State Higher Education Board and Apollo Hospital, and the University of Salford’s MoU with Karnataka State Higher Education Board and their partnership with the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore - one of Asia’s leading business schools.
The University of Salford also awarded the renowned Bollywood singer, Asha Bhosle, with an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree in recognition of her contribution to the field of music and her role in inspiring future generations to participate in arts and media.
All of these partnerships develop and deliver collaborative programmes in a wide range of disciplines which are of critical importance to the future of industry, including smart cities, health and wellbeing, biosciences and advanced manufacturing and robotics.
Tourism, Sport and Culture
India’s tourism market has increased rapidly since 2017 and with more than 20 million Indian nationals living across the world, the volume of Indian outbound travel has grown significantly. The subcontinent is a responsible for nearly 17 million outbound visits a year, with Indian visitors to the UK spending more than £400 million in the UK annually. Inwardly, India is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites and attracts approximately six million international tourists annually.
With 500,000 people of Indian origin living across the North of the UK, Manchester is in a privileged position to act as the gateway to the region providing an ideal base to visit places like York, Chester, Liverpool, the Lake District and the Peak District. And more famously, Manchester is home to two of the largest sporting brands in the world, Manchester United and Manchester City, plus one of the UK’s greatest cricket clubs at Old Trafford which announced their pre-season tour in India.
Equally culture is plentiful; from food, drink and shopping to music and world class museums and galleries. Currently £5 million is being invested to co-curate a new South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum, due to open next year. To learn more about tourism, sport and culture in Manchester click here.
