Foreign secretary Lisa Truss is set to begin her three-day visit to India this week that could potentially expedite a free trade agreement (FTA) worth £100 billion with the world’s fifth largest economy.

With India being one of the world’s largest start-up economies, the FTA is set to benefit in particular small firms, who could be set to gain increased access to millions of new potential customers. According to figures, Indian start-ups raised $10 billion in investments this year in Q3 alone – 55% of their funds raised in the past year. Further, India is on track to overtake China as the fastest growing economy, and has recently overtaken the UK in market value of primary listings.

It’s clear that a trade deal is of urgency to Truss and Johnson. The UK-India trade and investment relationship is already worth around £24 billion and supports more than half a million jobs across the UK, providing great building blocks for the future. Both sides want this doubled by 2030 – according to figures.

Gaurav Singh, founder of JPIN VCATS, comments on the potential FTA and what international trade means for business leaders:

“India is one of the world’s largest economies and presents huge potential as a key partner for trade and investment for the UK. India is a 21st century powerhouse and creating a strong UK-India trading relationship will help to fuel economic recovery in a post-Brexit, post-Covid UK. India and UK have been working to improve trade and it can really allow UK to benefit from the immense growth India is about to experience in the coming decade. A trade deal with India could be as high as £50-100 billion, given India was a top two FDI source for UK and UK has been a top six investor into India.

“A trade deal will open the door to 1.3 billion potential customers for UK businesses, and provide opportunities for business improvement, consolidation, foreign expansion and diversification in a rapidly growing market. India is a top priority for good reason – it is growing exponentially and will be the centre of world trade in the coming decades, and building a trading relationship here is particularly important.”