Gandhinagar: A high-level delegation from the West Midlands Combined Authority, England, led by Mayor Richard Parker, paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar. This is the first visit of the delegation to Gujarat following the recently signed UK–India trade deal.

According to an official statement, during the meeting with the Chief Minister, members of the delegation expressed keen interest in collaboration across various sectors, including higher education, the green economy and electric vehicles (EVs), skill development, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced manufacturing.

The delegation also held discussions with the Chief Minister regarding the contribution of UK expertise to the development of sports ecosystems and sports infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in Gujarat in 2030. They extended an invitation to the Chief Minister and a high-level delegation from Gujarat to visit the West Midlands in connection with the organisation of the Games.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister stated that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, India has emerged as a trusted partner for countries around the world. Referring to Gujarat’s growth trajectory, he emphasised that since the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, the state has evolved into a global investment destination. He added that Gujarat has adopted a vision of sector-specific growth through policy-driven governance and the formulation of progressive policies.

In this context, the Chief Minister noted that under the Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, Gujarat is prepared to lead in emerging sectors, including green growth. He added that the Government of Gujarat is ready to extend full cooperation in all partnership areas of interest to the UK.

The Chief Minister suggested the formation of a Joint Working Group comprising officials from the Government of Gujarat and the West Midlands to explore potential sectors and accelerate avenues for mutual development. He also proposed appointing iNDEXTb as the nodal agency for coordination.

He invited the delegation to participate in the upcoming edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference as well as the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2027.

The delegation included Neil Rami, CEO of the West Midlands Growth Company; Vijay Tank, Chief Commercial Officer of E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions; Greg Clark from the University of Warwick’s Innovation District; Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham; Kevin McCole, Managing Director of GEDU; Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University; Professor Mark Lee, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham; William Carne of UKIFF India Global Forum; and Manoj Ladwa.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Industries Department, Mamta Verma; Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sanjeev Kumar; Industries Commissioner P. Swaroop; Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Dr Vikrant Pandey; and Managing Director of iNDEXTb, Keyur Sampat. DeshGujarat