EU referendum: British-Indian business leaders issue open letter warning against a Brexit

More than 80 British-Indian business leaders have signed a letter outlining the benefits of the UK's membership in the European Union. The letter was organised by the "British Indians for IN" group, a cross-party campaign of parliamentarians seeking to keep Britain in the EU when the referendum takes place on 23 June.

The letter emphasised that despite arguments made by the Leave campaign that a Brexit would increase trade with countries such as India, they did not believe this would be the case. Instead, the signatories noted that Britain is a strong economic partner with India because of their membership in the EU.

MP Alok Sharma, coordinator of the campaign and the Prime Minister's Infrastructure Envoy to India, said: "Brexit will have the double whammy effect of not only hitting UK businesses but also impacting on inward investment.

"Indian companies have informed me that some decisions on future investments into the UK have been deferred until the outcome of the referendum is known and, if we vote to leave the EU, there is a big risk that Indian companies will think twice before investing in the UK."

The letter - signed by British-Indian business leaders - stressed that one of the key reasons why Britain is an attractive destination for inward overseas investment is because it is seen as a gateway to the European Single market of 500 million people. This view was echoed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said last week that the UK is India's "gateway to Europe" and offered his support for a "strong and united Europe".

The latest report from the British government on India, published in June 2015, noted that it was the third largest source of foreign direct investment for the UK. The Director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Pratik Dattani, acknowledged the negative effect a Brexit would have on FDI.

Dattani said: "The UK is the most important market in Europe for Indian FDI, and Indian companies have created more jobs in Britain than any other Asian country in 2015. A Brexit could cause uncertainty for FDI, immigration and trade relations between the two strong partners."

Despite concerns from the British-Indian community, UK Employment Minister Priti Patel is campaigning for a Brexit. Matt Cardy/Getty Images

In contrast with the concerns aired by a number of British-Indians, UK Employment Minister and David Cameron's Indian diaspora champion said that a Brexit would "boost UK-India relations". Priti Patel believes that trading links with India would improve when the UK was "not held back by the vested self-interests of the EU".

However, Commonwealth Minister Hugo Swire hit out at Patel and others on 20 May, insisting that India would not benefit if the UK leaves the EU. He said: "There has been a creeping narrative promoted by the Brexiteers that somehow the Commonwealth can replace the EU as the UK's trading bloc partner. My argument is that it is an erroneous leap of faith to take. This is all based on imagination, rather than reality."

The signatories to the letter included:

Mr Sumit Agarwal, Founder & Managing Partner, DNS Associates Ltd
Mr Vivek Agarwal, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Strand of Silk Ltd
Mr JP Agrawal, Managing Director and Founder, Derivatives Value Advisors
Mr Rajesh Agrawal, Founder & Chairman, RationalFX
Mr Sats Ahluwalia, Group Managing Director, Mulberry Care Group
Mrs Pavan Ahluwalia, Chief Executive Officer, Pavan Henna Artist Limited
Mr Neeraj Arora, Executive Vice President and Head of International Business, Sony Entertainment Television (supporting in a personal capacity)
Mr Suneel Bakhshi, Chief Executive Officer, LCH (supporting in a personal capacity)
Mr Amit Bhatia, Chairman, Hope Construction Materials
Mr Raj Bhatt, Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Elara Capital PLC
Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, (supporting in a personal capacity)
Mr Jigs Chana, Director, Cameo Properties Development Ltd
Mr Prem Chander, Chief Executive Officer, London Energy Trading Ltd
Mr Nitin Dahad, Founder, Techspark Limited
Mr Pratik Dattani, Director – UK, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Mr Sudhir Dhanani, Director, Clearconsult Management Limited
Mr Uday Dholakia OBE, Senior Partner, Global Consulting UK Ltd
Ms Rupa Ganatra, Founding Partner, Millennial 20/20 Ltd
Mr Ravi Gidar, Director, Gold Care Homes
Mr Ram Gidoomal CBE, Chairman, Dulas Ltd
Mr Harminder Gill, Managing Director, Gillcrest Homes
Mr, Vijay Goel, Partner, Singhania & Co
Mr Raj Gupta, Director, Heathfield House Nursing Homes Ltd
Mr Arif Hussein, Director, Homebound UK Ltd (t/a Brockley Consulting)
Mr Jayesh Jotangia, Barrister at 33 Bedford Row
Mr Surjit Jutla, Director, Euro-Link Property Management Services Ltd
Miss Bhavini Kalaria, Managing Director, The London Law Practice Ltd
Dr Sanjeev Kanoria, Chairman, Advinia Health Care Limited
Dr Mohan Kaul, Vice Chairman, Indo-UK Institute of Health
Mr Sid Khemka, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Konnect Digital Limited
Ms Mani Kohli, Founder/Designer, Khubsoorat UK Ltd
Mr Saran Kohli, Director, Mani Kohli's UK Ltd
Ms Preema Kohli-Verma, Chief Executive Officer, Preema International Limited
Mr Salil Kumar, Director, Asset India Ltd
Mr Anil Kumar, Chairman, Ransat Group
Mr Manoj Ladwa, Chief Executive, India Inc Ltd
Professor Kartar Lalvani OBE, Chairman, Vitabiotics Ltd
Dr Gurmit Mahay, GP, Poplars Medical Practice
Mr Andeep Mangal, Director, Thapers Chartered Accountants
Mr Tony Matharu, Managing Director, Grange Hotels (supporting in a personal capacity)
Mr Sukhdev Mattu, Chief Executive Officer, Chartwell Private Hospital
Dr Ravi Mehrotra CBE, Executive Chairman, Foresight Ltd
Mr Rahul Mehta, Founder, ViCos Ltd
Mr Ketan Mehta, Managing Director, Necessity Supplies Ltd
Mr Vish Mehta, Group Director, MiCasa Group
Mr Anirudh Misra, Director, International Metallurgical Resources Ltd
Mr Jagdish Nagrecha, Director, Crane International Limited
Mr Rajay Naik, Chief Executive Officer - Europe, Keypath Education
Mr Manoj Nair, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Redgirraffe.com
Mr Ashok Rabheru CVO DL, Chairman, Genisys Group
Mr Ravi Pandey, Managing Director, Rolta UK Ltd
Ms Chanda Pandya, Brand Director, Rossana UK Ltd
Ms Parita Patel, Director, Uniflora Limited
Mr Guppy Patel, Director, Xoocafe Limited
Mr Ashok Patel, Director, TNV Construction Ltd
Mr Hiren Patel, Project Architect, Black Elephant ID Studio Ltd
Mr Vikkas Puri, Director, Sunrise Developers Limited
Mr Thembalath Ramachandran, Chairman & Managing Director, Bristol Laboratories Ltd
Mr Arun Raman, Chief Executive Officer, Helm Natural Resources Ltd
Lord Diljit Rana MBE, Managing Director, Andras House Ltd
Mr Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman, Sunmark Ltd
Mr Yoganathan Ratheesan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Lebara Group
Mr Abhishek Sachdev, Managing Director, Vedanta Hedging Limited
Mr Paul Sagoo, Founder, Asian Awards Ltd
Mr Girish Sanger, Director, Mastcraft Ltd
Mr Nimesh Sanghrajka, Director, Mantra Consultancy & Capital Limited
Mr Gurvinder Sethi, Director, Flavors of India Ltd
Mr Pravin Shah, Director, Levershire Limited
Mr Shamir Shah, Director, Icone-International Ltd
Mr Pradip Sharma, Pradicorp UK Ltd
Ms Kavita Sharma, Chief Executive, Indo British Business Forum
Mr Anil Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Kinedexe UK Ltd
Ms Sangeeta Sidhu-Robb, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Nosh Detox Delivery Ltd
Mr Amarjit Singh, Chief Executive Officer, India Business Consultancy Limited (t/a The India Business Group)
Mr Ajaya Sodha, Director, Arma Properties UK Ltd
Mr Jay Tahasildar, Director, Mercurius IT Limited
Mr Ranjit Thaker, Director, Thaker Acquisitions Ltd
Mr Subhash Thakrar, Partner, CBW Partners
Mr Manish Tiwari, Managing Director, Here&Now365 Ltd
Mr Madhava Turumella, Chief Executive Officer, Cove Venture Ltd
Mr Danesh Varma, Director, Global Preservation Strategies Limited