A glittering visit: City builds business and education links with India

“When I landed in New Delhi on my first visit to India as part of the Delegation of UK Universities, the lights and floral embellishments still glittered from the recent G20. It was dazzling,” said Dr Sionade Robinson.

Sionade is the Vice-President for Enterprise, Engagement and Employability at City, University of London and one of her goals is to enhance and develop strategic relationships with external partners and other organisations.

She went to India to represent City as part of the largest Higher Education mission from UK to any country ever. The mission, which took place from 15-22 September, was organised by the Department for Business and Trade and the Department of Education alongside British Council India and led by Professor Sir Steve Smith, the UK Government’s International Education Champion.

India is the fifth largest economy in the world and on its way to becoming a key partner for City. S&P and Morgan Stanley predict that it will become the third largest economy by 2030.

The UK is now India’s second biggest international research partner – and the largest in Europe – with joint research worth £400 million in 2021, according to the British Council.

Its demographic is young: the country has 27 million eighteen-year-olds and the National Education Policy prioritises developing the nation’s skills to transform the country into a knowledge economy.

India is also a key recruitment market for City’s undergraduate and postgraduate student body: the 2022/23 cohort of student saw a 36 per cent increase in Indian students compared to last year.

During the mission, over 25 representatives from the British university sector met with Indian institutions to discuss potential partnerships and build links in the country. The visit sought to capitalise on a transformation in the country’s education sector in recent years, enabling it to collaborate more easily with international partners.

Sionade met with Indian ministers and university Vice Chancellors to discuss business partnerships, shared research interests, and strategies to develop the internationalisation of Indian universities.

She also visited the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a special economic zone in Western India, where foreign institutions can set up branch campuses free from the regulations that govern the rest of the country.

More so than the physical G20 afterglow, Sionade was struck by the country’s energy of entrepreneurship, dynamism and its impulse for innovation.

The population in the world's biggest economies – from the United States and Europe to Japan and China – is ageing and it is inspiring to consider the opportunities India presents for education and research as it harnesses technology and a collaborative response to the rapidly evolving needs and aspirations of young, impatient Indians.

Currently, several schools at City are already collaborating with Indian universities.

Academics from the School of Health & Psychological Sciences (SHPS) have received funding until 2026 to work with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in southern India on an international survey of childbirth-related trauma.

Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) collaborated with the Indian School of Business to research corporate social sustainability and forecasting natural disaster impact in India.

Elsewhere at City, academics from the School of Science & Technology are working with IIT Madras on a collaborative research project about wave structure interaction, offshore renewables and coastal protection.

As for today, Alison Barrett, India Director at the British Council, said there is a “perfect storm of demand and opportunity” in India and the UK at the moment, alongside an “enabling environment that will help make everything happen.”

"Innovative work in the Office of Global Engagement is already underway to ensure our students at City have more opportunities to learn with students here in India,” Sionade added. “This will be an important globalising experience for student of business practice and the professions.”