Indian industrialist Ajay Gopikisan Piramal, Chairman of the Piramal Group, has been conferred an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty The Queen for services to the UK-India trade relationship as Co-Chair of the UK-India CEO Forum.
Piramal is a strong advocate for enhancing the UK-India relationship, including through investments in the UK’s life sciences ecosystem and through support for the living bridge of people-to-people ties between the two countries. The CBE was conferred this week as an honorary award to foreign nationals making an impact at a national level.
MORE LIKE THIS…
The Rajasthan-born businessman said: “I am humbled and honoured to receive this honorary award from Her Majesty The Queen. As Co-Chair of India-UK CEO Forum since 2016, the endeavour has been to help strengthen the strong bilateral relations between the two countries through greater economic cooperation.
“I am sure this recognition will encourage the growth of trade, business and industry partnerships between the two nations and take it to greater heights in the years to come."
The industrialist contributed actively to several initiatives, including the UK-India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting, has also helped shape policy on labour mobility, setting up a fast-track mechanism for Indian investments in the UK and on corporate tax in India.
Alan Gemmell, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia and British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India, said: “I’m delighted that Her Majesty The Queen has, in her Jubilee Year, approved Ajay Piramal an honorary CBE in recognition of the leading role Ajay has played in the UK-India relationship.
MORE LIKE THIS…
“I visited Piramal Pharma Solution’s world-leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facility near Edinburgh earlier this year, to see their investment to expand the facility and create around 50 new highly skilled jobs. It is an honour to see Ajay's vast contribution over so many years marked in this way.”
As the chief of the Piramal Group, Ajay Piramal is credited with transforming the company into a £10 billion global business conglomerate, with diverse interests in pharmaceuticals, financial services and real estate. The group has operations in over 30 countries, generating 37 per cent of its revenues outside of India.
