Assam and UK Draw Up Roadmap to Turn India–UK Free Trade Deal Into Local Projects

The talks set out technical and political next steps to attract investment, shore up power grids and prepare digital and infrastructure projects before the pact takes effect.

Overview

Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota met British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Fleming on Wednesday to map out stepped-up Assam–UK cooperation ahead of the India–UK free trade agreement.
The UK delegation presented a UK PACT Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) need assessment for Assam Power Distribution Company Limited that recommends actions to improve grid reliability and speed renewable integration.
Officials proposed an Assam–UK Infrastructure Roundtable in Guwahati to pitch projects in sustainable urbanisation, transport and flood‑resilient infrastructure and to explore financing support from UK Export Finance.
Discussions also covered the proposed UK–India Sovereign AI Partnership with a focus on trusted AI infrastructure, sovereign cloud capacity, high‑performance computing and governance frameworks for Assam’s digital plans.
No binding deals were signed; next steps are organising the roundtable, following up on the BESS technical recommendations and pursuing institutional and financing links before the FTA comes into force.