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LONDON: Seventy Indian companies set up in Britain last year, creating 5,000 more jobs, Britain's trade and investment minister has said.

Trade between India and Britain grew by 9.1 per cent last year, adding around 9 billion pounds to the total value, Lord Digby Jones told a gathering of British investors in London on Tuesday.

In a speech to business executives at the India Investors Summit, the British minister also welcomed Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee's statement on Monday night that the economic reforms process in India is "irreversible."

But Jones stressed that the speed of reforms was also "crucial."

"We have seen our commercial relationship blossom at both ends of the spectrum - from Tata's takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover in my home town of Birmingham to the smaller end with the UK India Business Angels Network bringing together entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from both countries," Jones said.

"As the world's most populous democratic state, India preserves values of democracy, tolerance and respect. It stands as a beacon of those values in the world's fast growing markets. And if there are two nations that really get the importance of those values in global economics it is India and the UK.

"These values endure in both our nations and we understand the political capital they hold," he added.

The British minister also pointed to the "responsibility of the employers - the responsibility that comes with being an inward investor."

Jones said British expertise and business were well placed to bag contracts that would follow on from increased investments in infrastructure - expected to be in the region of $500 billion over the next five years.

But for India to benefit from British expertise in project management, and legal, financial and accountancy services, the country would have to open up these sectors.

"Being competitive at home and abroad go hand in hand," Jones said.

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May 21 2008 6:52PM

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Software services firm Mastek Ltd is looking at an overseas acquisition of around $20-30 million during the current financial year, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"We are mainly looking at the U.S. and the UK and it will be insurance or government vertical," Group CFO and Director (Finance), R.S. Desikan told reporters, referring to firms which have expertise in handling government jobs and insurance sector.

In March, the company paid $29 million to acquire U.S.-based STG International, which offers business software services to the property and casualty insurance companies in North America.

The insurance vertical currently contributes a quarter to the Mastek's total revenues and this share is expected to reach 40-45 percent in the next 2-3 years, he said.

Mastek shares ended 1.25 percent down at 392.60 rupees in the Mumbai market.