Same-day visa for Indian investors, no cap on students: Cameron

Mumbai : In a measure to attract more Indian businessmen and students, British Prime Minister David Cameron Monday announced a same-day visa service for investors and no limit on the number of students from the country.

“We have the biggest visa operations anywhere in the world right here in India. I announce that we are going to introduce for businesses a ‘same-day visa’ service to those who want to come and invest in our country,” Cameron said at a business meeting held in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel here.

Regarding Indian students in Britain, Cameron said there would be “no limit” on the number of Indian students who can come and study in universities there, no cap on the length of time they will be allowed to live and work in graduate-level jobs after they complete their qualifications.

Offering immense investment opportunities for Indian companies in Britain, Cameron said: “When I see Indian investments into Britain, I only see hope. Investment like Jaguar and Land Rover, which is a massive international success story. We welcome that sort of investments.”

He said Britain is also exploring to reduce the trade barriers with India and expected India to reciprocate.

“We want the Indian government to continue to open up trade barriers and make it easier to do business here. We have to ensure that just as we welcome the Indian investments into Britain, it is easier for British companies like banking, retail and others to invest in this vibrant and fast growing economy,” Cameron said.

He stressed the need to forge a greater partnership with India as the British economy was starting to recover from recession.

“The time to forge partnerships is now – as the British economy has started recovering from difficulties of the last two years and the Indian economy powers ahead as one of the great powers,” he noted.

Cameron, accompanied by a high-level business delegation, is on his second visit to Mumbai in the first leg of his current India tour. Earlier Monday, Transport for London (TFL) signed an important agreement with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to help augment Mumbai’s proposed Metro rail network.