Trade, Investment and Business Minister Lord Davies of Abersoch is urging West Midlands firms to take a fresh look at India, a market with a middle class that is 300 million strong and that produces half a million technology graduates every year.

"India is on the move and we must move with it," Lord Davies said. "UK firms must rethink India.

"It's been over a decade since outsourcing was the buzzword. Now innovative Indian and UK firms are working together at the top end of the industrial spectrum - on pharmaceuticals, electronics and advanced manufacturing. India's talent, confidence, energy and entrepreneurial spirit must be seen to be believed."

Lord Davies will visit India from 14 to 17 September. Ahead of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, he will discuss trade with his ministerial counterparts, appointed after May elections that brought in a new government. He will visit Nagpur, the 'zero-mile' city at India's geographical heart, and Mumbai.

"The UK and India are natural partners of choice. In forums such as G20, we are standing shoulder to shoulder to promote global trade and economic liberalisation, which is vital to bring prosperity and jobs to hundreds of millions of people around the world," he said.

Exports of goods to India from the West Midlands rose in value by 29.8% from 2007 to 2008 to £219 million.

The UK is the biggest European investor in India and India last year overtook Japan to become the biggest Asian investor in the UK by number of projects. Over 600 Indian firms are represented in the UK, of which about two thirds are in information technology or software. Last year alone, almost 4,000 new jobs were created in the UK by Indian investment.

The investment flows both ways. In Delhi, Lord Davies will visit the Ambience shopping mall, the largest in India, where Marks & Spencer, the Body Shop and Debenhams have been successfully established. He will also visit the Ballabgarh plant of JCB, the market leader in India where every second construction vehicle is a JCB.

Lord Davies will go to Nagpur, one of nine Tier 2 cities offering exciting opportunities for UK firms. Design and engineering firm Scott Wilson is working on the giant MIHAN project that will transform the city into India's logistical hub, creating 400,000 jobs.

"I am delighted to visit Nagpur, one of the engine rooms for India's growth. UK firms should look beyond the obvious destinations of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and explore the potential of emerging cities such as Nagpur, with UKTI as their guide," Lord Davies said.

With its network throughout the UK's regions and 90 staff on the ground in India alone, UKTI (www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk) can offer advice to UK businesses that want to investigate this market. It can help UK firms to explore options and to find business partners, and can provide grants to help firms attend trade shows.

The Minister will support a delegation of British businesses led by the UK-India Business Council that will be visiting Nagpur. The delegation includes legal, financial and construction firms.

The Chair of the UK-India Business Council, the Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt said:

"We are delighted to take our first Emerging Cities business delegation to India. The UK India Business Council has identified Nagpur as one of the nine fast-growing and most exciting emerging cities in India. It is particularly successful in key sectors - built environment, advanced engineering, education - where the UK is also strong.

"Some UKIBC member companies including Standard Chartered, JCB and Benoy have already established successful businesses in India's emerging cities, helping them to deal with the economic downturn. Our message to British business is simple: building win-win partnerships in India now will help you emerge stronger from recession."

India factfile

·  The Indian middle class is 300 million strong. This represents a single English-speaking market comparable in size to the population of all of the UK's EU trading partners combined.

·  McKinsey Global Institute has forecast that India may become the fifth largest consumer market in the world by 2025.

·  According to the Planning Commission of India, over US$500 billion of funding is needed for new power stations, airports, roads, railways, seaports, waterways and urban infrastructure over the next five years.

·  Almost 40% of Indians are younger than 15.

·  Less than 40% of Indian households have a bank account and only 2% have insurance cover. Like the UK, India has a common law legal system.

·  10 million mobile phone handsets are sold in India every month.