Britain and India will unveil about £1 billion ($1.6 billion) in commercial deals, days after BP, the oil giant, won approval to buy $7.2 billion in stakes in oil and natural gas blocks owned by Reliance Industries of India.
The British chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, will present the agreements Monday in London after the regular talks that both countries hold each year. The talks also seek to improve financial partnerships and ways to support businesses trying to establish a presence in each country.
“Britain is now making the largest foreign investment in India,” Mr. Osborne said Sunday in a statement released by his office. “British companies are competing with the best in the world, despite some skeptical voices, and it is good for growth in Britain.”
Mr. Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron are striving to increase trade with India, China and Brazil, and break British reliance on finance as a source of income. The BP deal may reach as much as $20 billion, the Treasury said.
Five months after announcing the accord, BP will acquire a 30 percent interest in 21 of 23 blocks proposed by Reliance, S. Jaipal Reddy, the Indian oil minister, said after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi last week.
Last year, BP signed a deal to explore off Brazil and sealed a partnership with Cnooc, the biggest offshore oil producer in China, for South China Sea licenses.
When the Reliance deal was announced in February, analysts approved. The wave of unrest from North Africa to the Persian Gulf made countries like India and Russia look more attractive to multinational oil companies. And BP’s chief executive, Robert Dudley, was eager to find new ways for BP to grow after it was forced to sell assets to pay for last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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