Scotland-India Strategic Market Insight Report

1. An economic corridor with growth opportunities

Scotland is approaching India from a wider UK-India relationship that has developed into a large, services-led corridor supported by trade, capital and people. UK India Bilateral trade rose from £15.9 billion in 2015 to £43.8 billion in 2024.^[10] Between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, UK exports to India were valued at £18.9 billion and imports at £28.5 billion. Services represented 66.8% of UK exports and 61.2% of UK imports, reflecting strong demand for travel, consulting, intellectual property, education, information technology, business services and telecommunications. Goods flows remain important in machinery, metals, energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals and refined oil.

Investment deepens this relationship. The UK is India's sixth-largest source of foreign direct investment equity inflows, with a cumulative contribution of £26.3 billion since April 2000.^[11] UK outward investment stock in India stood at £19. billion in 2024.^[12] Indian businesses also have a significant UK presence: 971 companies generate more than £68 billion in revenue and employ over 118,000 people.^[13] In 2025, Indian companies announced £1.3 billion of planned investment across 64 projects and 6,900 new UK jobs. A diaspora of about two million people provides an additional living bridge across business, education and culture.

Note: UK outward FDI stock provides the total value of FDI by UK investors in economies abroad (investment of a UK parent company in India), while UK inward FDI stock provides the total value of FDI by non-UK investors in the UK (investment of an India parent company in the UK). The decline in UK inward FDI stock from India between 2023 and 2024 reflects ONS FDI stock estimates, which are influenced not only by new investment flows but also by valuation changes, corporate restructuring, disinvestment and other balance-sheet adjustments. Consequently, annual changes in FDI stock do not necessarily reflect underlying investment activity.

Within this corridor, Scotland has a distinctive rather than mass-market role. Its economy was valued at approximately £218.7 billion in 2025, excluding oil and gas, while the services sector of Scotland, including finance, IT, tourism and retail, accounts for 74% of GDP^[15].

Scottish exports include power-generation equipment, transport equipment, industrial machinery, petroleum products, apparel, textiles and fresh produce. Indian exports include beverages, machinery, chemicals, electronics, scientific instruments, ores and paper.

India exports beverages, machinery, metal ores, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, paper, electronics, and scientific instruments to Scotland.

In addition to being a large importer of Scotch whisky (£286 million in 2025, ~220 million bottles) ^[18], India imports a range of goods from Scotland, including power generation equipment, apparel, petroleum products, transport equipment, textiles, industrial machinery and fresh produce.

Scottish companies can draw on existing investor networks, commercial relationships, diaspora connections and institutional links. The next stage is to convert those foundations into a wider proposition: Scotland as a source of clean-energy engineering, advanced healthcare, digital innovation, precision manufacturing and premium consumer products.