Minister of Railways, Government of India Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu successfully concluded his two day official visit to London, UK on 29th and 30th October, 2015. The visit came at the invitation of the Government of UK. The other Members of the Indian Delegation included Shri Ranjan Mathai, High Commissioner of India, Shri Rajiv Datt, Managing Director(MD), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (Indian Railway PSU), Shri Saikant Sen Sharma, First Secretary(Economic) Indian High Commission, UK.On 29th October, Indian Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu met with Rt Hon Oliver Letwin, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister in charge of cabinet affairs Government of UK and Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin, Secretary of State for Transport, Government of UK to discuss investments in Indian infrastructure and areas of mutual cooperation in the Rail sector. The proposed issuance of Rupee bonds overseas by Indian corporates was also discussed. The UK side welcomed these proposals and promised to assist in ensuring success in these endeavors.
Again on 29th October, along with the UK Ministers Shri Prabhu addressed a High level Investors Roundtable. The investors were unanimous in their appreciation of India’s growth effort and were positively inclined to commit long term funds for the infrastructure sector. The investors also welcomed the recent announcement permitting Indian corporates to issue Rupee bonds overseas. The investors indicated that there would be good appetite for well-known names.On 30th October, Shri Prabhu visited the London Stock Exchange and met another set of leading investors. The response to Government’s initiatives and proposals was well received and there was general agreement that investors have a positive outlook on India and are prepared to commit funds including investment in Rupee bonds.The investors(banks/financial institutions) who participated in these interactions included Standard Life, Citibank, SBI UK, SBI Caps UK, Prime Bridge Investments, London Stock Exchange, Standard Chartered Bank, ANZ bank, HSBC bank, Kotak Mahindra. UK, Exim Bank of India, Blue Bay Investments, Black Rock Investments, Deutche Bank, U K Green Investment Bank, Russell Investments, Jupiter Asset Management, HSBC, SBI Capital, Investec, BAML, Redington and JP Morgan.In addition, the Indian delegation also visited three stations in London area where considerable redevelopment of property has taken place.