The economic relationship between India and Britain is increasingly extending beyond London, with Indian companies expanding their presence in the Midlands and the North, and becoming significant employers in regional economies.The latest India Meets Britain Tracker, compiled by Grant Thornton UK, a professional-services firm specialising in audit, tax and business advisory services, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry and India Global Forum, records 1,912 Indian-owned companies operating in Britain, employing 2,03,549 people and generating combined turnover of £105.77 billion.The Tracker, now in its 13th edition, has been examining the growing presence of Indian-owned companies in Britain since 2014. Its latest findings provide a revealing picture not simply of the scale of Indian business in Britain, but of its changing geography.London still accounts for the largest share — with 38 per cent of Indian-owned companies. But that is a marked decline from the more than 50 per cent recorded between 2018 and 2021. The South accounts for 27 per cent, the Midlands 12 per cent and the North 11 per cent.The figures suggest that the India-UK economic relationship is becoming less concentrated in London and increasingly embedded in Britain’s wider industrial and technological economy.That is particularly evident in the West Midlands, where Indian investment has become closely associated with advanced manufacturing, automotive technology and increasingly with digital industries.The West Midlands Growth Company says the region has attracted more than £3.5 billion in Indian foreign direct investment over the past decade, covering 76 recorded investments and employing more than 13,000 people. Tata Group, TVS Motor, Infosys and Mahindra are among the Indian companies with significant operations in the region.Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said the region was already the UK’s leading destination for Indian investment outside London.“With more than £3.5 billion invested in the region over the past decade, the West Midlands is already the UK’s leading destination for Indian investment outside London.”He pointed to the region’s strengths in advanced manufacturing and automotive industries as well as digital technology, clean energy and life sciences, areas that increasingly overlap with India’s own expanding capabilities.Technology is adding a new dimension to the relationship.Indian technology company, Hexaware, has committed £25 million to expanding its British operations, including an enlarged delivery centre in Birmingham and research and development centres in Manchester and Leeds. The investment is expected to create around 1,200 jobs in over three to five years, with work focused on artificial intelligence, digital services and quantum technologies.Such investments go beyond the number of jobs created. They point to a relationship increasingly based on skills, research and innovation rather than simply capital moving between two countries.Leeds provides another example. Mastek, the Indian digital engineering and cloud transformation company, has expanded its Leeds operation as part of a wider investment in Britain. The company had earlier announced a £2 million investment in its Leeds office, with the creation of 200 jobs. Its expanded facility is intended to support work in artificial intelligence, cloud and digital transformation, while strengthening links with regional universities and other institutions.The growing technological relationship is also beginning to connect Indian companies directly with British universities.In September, the Indian Consulate in Birmingham organised an India-UK Industry-Academia Technology Dialogue, bringing together companies, including Tata Technologies, Infosys, Hexaware, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Mastek with universities across the Midlands.The discussions covered artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, mobility, cloud technology, healthcare, Industry 4.0 and future skills, with particular emphasis on collaborative research, specialised training, internships and industry-linked education.The established industrial presence of Indian companies should not, however, be overlooked.Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover remains the largest Indian corporate employer in Britain, with more than 44,000 employees, while Tata Steel employs almost 20,000.What is changing is the breadth of the Indian corporate presence. Twenty-six per cent of the companies in this year’s Tracker are new entrants, suggesting that the expansion is not simply being driven by the traditional Indian corporate giants already established in Britain.India’s newly arrived High Commissioner to Britain, Periasamy Kumaran, said the relationship was no longer defined by its historical connections at the launch of the Tracker in London earlier this year.“The India-UK relationship today is no longer defined by nostalgia; it is defined by opportunity.”Kumaran said India brought “scale, growth, talent, and ambition”, while Britain offered “innovation, expertise, finance, and global leadership across advanced sectors.”His formulation captures the changing character of the relationship. India’s companies are looking to Britain not simply as a market, but as a base from which they can access skills, research, technology and global markets. Britain’s regions, meanwhile, are looking to India for investment, employment and connections to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing major economies.The timing is significant.The UK-India Free Trade Agreement entered into force on July 15, providing a new framework for trade, investment and services between the two countries. But the regional investment story suggests that the economic relationship was already moving beyond the traditional London-centred model.For Britain’s regions, Indian investment offers capital, employment and access to India’s rapidly expanding economy.For Indian companies, the regions offer universities, skilled workers, industrial expertise and established research and technology capabilities.The result is a relationship that is becoming less concentrated in London and increasingly embedded in Britain’s wider economy.The end result is not just a story of trade between two countries, but of Indian companies becoming part of Britain’s regional economic landscape.