Yorkshire Mayors bring home new deals from first-ever joint trade mission to India

• New deals in health innovation and textiles signed during mission, as Yorkshire firms win business in India

• Comes as Indian firms create hundreds of jobs in Yorkshire’s towns and cities, three months after the UK-India trade deal came into force

• Mission celebrates deep ties, from Sachin Tendulkar’s arrival at Headingley in 1992 to the county’s 80,000-strong Indian diaspora today

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard and York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith led a delegation of businesses, universities and cultural organisations to Hyderabad and Mumbai – selling Yorkshire to India as one team. They met investors, business leaders and cultural partners, including Indian firms already creating jobs in Yorkshire.

Deals signed during the mission include a health innovation partnership with the IKP Knowledge Park in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley, and a new textiles agreement between the University of Huddersfield and the Indian Technical Textile Association.

The mission took place three months after the UK-India free trade deal came into force. The UK Government expects the deal to boost the economy of Yorkshire and the Humber by £170 million a year. Exports from West, South and York and North Yorkshire to India more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, to around £770 million a year.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“Yorkshire and India are old friends. You see it at Headingley, where a 19-year-old Sachin Tendulkar became our first overseas player. You see it in the mills where families who came from India kept our textile industry going; in the Indian restaurants on our high streets; in the Diwali celebrations in our towns and cities; and in the thousands of Indian students who choose our universities every year.

“More than 80,000 people of Indian heritage call Yorkshire home. They are part of the fabric of our great county. I want them – and every Indian business, student and visitor thinking of coming here – to know they are valued, welcome, and safe in Yorkshire.

“This trade mission is about turning that old friendship into new economic opportunity. With the free trade deal now in force, and with Indian businesses creating hundreds of good jobs here in West Yorkshire, now is the time to build on that momentum, back our importing and exporting businesses, and ensure the benefits of good growth are felt in every postcode.”

Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

“This trade mission will unlock new opportunities for Yorkshire businesses, driving investment, supporting skilled jobs and boosting growth across the region.

“Our trade deal with India is already expected to deliver a £170m annual boost to the Yorkshire and Humber economy and this mission will help firms reach new markets in priority sectors identified in our modern Industrial Strategy from advanced manufacturing to life sciences.”

A focal point for the mission was a meeting of the White Rose Mayors with the Chief Minister of Hyderabad, to discuss proposals for closer cooperation on jobs, trade and investment.

Telangana shares deep roots with Yorkshire. Hyderabad-headquartered Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has a longstanding manufacturing site in Mirfield, and Mayor Brabin met with the company’s leadership at its Hyderabad laboratories during the mission.

At the same time, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber signed an agreement with the IKP Knowledge Park in Hyderabad’s renowned Genome Valley life sciences cluster. The two will work together on healthcare innovation to drive the development of lifechanging technologies on both sides of the world.

And Headingley, where Tendulkar made his name in Yorkshire in 1992, is now home to Sunrisers Leeds – sister side to the Indian Premier League’s Sunrisers Hyderabad.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said:

“The strongest partnerships are built between people and places who share ambition. South Yorkshire and Telangana are both looking ahead with confidence, backing innovation, investing in people and building economies fit for the future.

“South Yorkshire has so much to offer. We're home to world-leading advanced manufacturing, pioneering research and some of the brightest talent anywhere in the country. The skills, expertise and innovation we have here are helping solve global challenges and creating opportunities for future generations.

“By strengthening the ties between our regions, we can share ideas, build new opportunities for trade and investment, and create the conditions for even more good jobs and growth in the years ahead.”

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said:

“It doesn’t matter whether you sit down to enjoy a cup of Yorkshire Tea or chai, our connection with India runs deep.

“This historic trade mission takes our shared history and transforms it into fresh opportunities for both Yorkshire and India.

“Working together as one team across Yorkshire allows us to unlock new trade, create high-quality career pathways back home and deliver on devolution.”

The trade mission came amid a wave of Indian investment into Yorkshire. Mumbai-headquartered technology company Hexaware is set to open a new research and development centre in Leeds, as part of its £25 million UK expansion. This will create 240 jobs in the city across AI, cyber security and data science, making the UK Hexaware’s second-largest and fastest-growing market. In Mumbai, Mayor Brabin met the company’s leadership to explore how it can grow even further in West Yorkshire.

Yorkshire firms are making their mark in India, too. Batley-based grid-enhancing technology company AssetCool has signed its first commercial licence with Mumbai-headquartered APAR Industries, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of conductors. The deal takes AssetCool’s technology - which helps power lines carry more electricity and reduce power losses - into India and beyond.

Leeds-based Optalysys is building a team of engineers in Bangalore to help design its next-generation, light-based computing technology for AI as it grows in Leeds. Meanwhile, family-owned Wilson Power Solutions, founded in Leeds in 1946, has quadrupled its manufacturing capacity in India with a new £21 million transformer plant near Chennai.

Yorkshire’s universities were also at the heart of the mission. Institutions from Leeds, Sheffield, York and Huddersfield were part of the delegation, and thousands of Indian students choose to study in the county every year.

Last month, the University of York Mumbai opened its doors to its first cohort of students, offering undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the Creative Industries, Business, and Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security.

On a visit to the campus, Mayor David Skaith launched the Mayor’s Gateway Scholarship. Funded by the University of York Mumbai, it will initially support two students from Mumbai with the opportunity to study in York. Additional work experience opportunities will be available as part of the scholarship, giving students direct insight into York and North Yorkshire’s business and industry.

A new research and policy institute, the Institute for Good Society, was also launched following the opening of the university, with a focus on major global challenges including artificial intelligence, urbanisation and climate change. The campus will also target research on global issues such as food security and future technologies.

Professor Lindsay Oades, Provost of the University of York Mumbai, said:

“We aim to provide our students with the skills, knowledge and confidence to study and work anywhere in the world, and so scholarships like this are significant in giving students international experience.

“We are proud to introduce Mayor David Skaith to our University community and we look forward to collaborating with York and the North Yorkshire region on many more education and research opportunities.”

The University of Leeds is also deepening its links with India to speed up the development of groundbreaking technologies, building on a new research partnership with IIT Kharagpur signed earlier in the year. And last week, The University of Huddersfield signed an agreement with the Indian Technical Textile Association, which will bring West Yorkshire’s centuries-old textile expertise together with India’s fast-growing technical textiles industry, opening up new opportunities for research, innovation, investment and manufacturing.

Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, said:

“The University of Leeds continues to strengthen its long-term commitment to India, reflecting the country’s importance as a strategic partner for collaboration across education, research, innovation, talent and economic development.

“Through the Great North and White Rose India Trade Mission, the University will build new relationships and deepen existing collaborations in areas of shared importance, from global health and sustainability to future skills.

“Through these connections, the University of Leeds aims to enhance links between India and the North of England while creating lasting opportunities for students, researchers, employers and communities across both countries.”

Professor Parik Goswami, Director of Research and Innovation and Professor of Technical Textiles at the University of Huddersfield, said:

“The University of Huddersfield is delighted to be part of this agreement.

“Huddersfield has long been a world leader in textiles, and the University is harnessing the latest technology and manufacturing techniques to continue a legacy that we look forward to sharing with new partners in India.”

This textiles partnership came as the Huddersfield-based Textile Centre of Excellence (TCoE) signed a Letter of Intent with Sant Shiromani Ravidas Global Skills Park in Bhopal, paving the way for collaboration on technical textile skills, trainer development and industry engagement.

Established under the Government of Madhya Pradesh, the park is one of India’s premier multi-skills institutions and the state’s apex hub for vocational training. With Mayor Brabin supporting the occasion, the signing brought together the first multi-skills park in India with 50 years of TCoE’s world-class industry expertise.

The TCoE also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Telangana’s Minister for Textiles, establishing a partnership on textile skills training and workforce development. The agreement also opens up the opportunity to establish a TCoE skills hub in the state of Telangana, which is home to around 40 million people.

Shahban Aziz, Managing Director of the Textile Centre of Excellence, said:

"These two partnerships are transformational for TCoE in our 50th year and a powerful endorsement of West Yorkshire’s global standing in textiles.

“West Yorkshire brings centuries of industrial heritage and world-class skills expertise; India brings extraordinary scale and ambition.

“We already develop skills across the UK’s textile ecosystem. Our partnerships with Bhopal’s Global Skills Park and the Government of Telangana take that expertise onto a new international stage, creating unparalleled opportunities to train textile specialists, develop expert trainers, and establish TCoE skills hubs.

“Together, we are laying the foundations for a lasting partnership between two textile powerhouses.”

The cultural ties between Yorkshire and India run just as deep. In 1883, Leeds doctor Edith Pechey – one of the first women to qualify as a doctor in Britain – sailed for Bombay to become a senior medical officer at the new Cama Hospital for women and children. There she helped sponsor the education of Rukhmabai, one of India’s first women doctors. When Bollywood’s biggest night, the IIFA Awards, came to Sheffield in 2007, the tagline was “Love at First Sight”. Sir Ben Kingsley, Indian-English actor born in Snainton near Scarborough, won the best actor Oscar and numerous other awards for his portrayal of Gandhi in the 1982 film directed by Richard Attenborough.

Today, culture is building new bridges. Opera North is exploring taking its acclaimed Orpheus: Monteverdi Reimagined production – which brings South Asian and western baroque musicians together on one stage – to India. It has also agreed new commitments with South Asian Arts-UK to nurture the next generation of musicians and music creators.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, will also work with Mayors to supercharge The Great North Creative, and support a range of activities including trade missions. Her backing will help to formalise a trailblazing partnership of all of the regions of the North of England with the BBC and other stakeholders, aimed at driving growth in the creative industries, promoting them around the world, and raising their profile.

The Mayors will now work with partners across Yorkshire to turn the connections made in India into new investment and jobs back home.