WITH voters going to the polls in India, a Southampton business leader has said firms across the south should be keeping an eye on the outcome of the general election.

Amarjit Singh – pictured below – a solicitor with law firm Dutton Gregory, said firms across the south stand to benefit economically from increased transparency in trade with the world’s largest democracy.

More than 800 million people across the globe’s tenth largest economy are expected to vote for a new Prime Minister over the next six weeks and bring in a new government on May 16.

As Dutton Gregory’s head of India Business Group and the co-chairman of the Solent India Business Network, Mr Singh is widely regarded as an expert in facilitating business in both countries.

He was one of 100 delegates invited to join David Cameron on an historic trade delegation last year to foster relations with India.

He said: “Firms in this country can tap into the huge potential that India has. There’s a burgeoning middle class in India with over 400 million people with increased spending power.

“India is an aspiring trading partner of choice for the UK. “There are ambitions to develop the economic corridor between the two countries and one of the key points coming out of the election is the quality and speed of governance.

“There’s a great amount of interest in these elections from different segments and quarters in this country. “People should keep an eye on these elections particularly with regards to the sheer skills that people in this region have to offer. The new government will have an important role in developing India going forward, particularly for exporters in the UK and the south coast.”

There are three people who stand a realistic chance of becoming Prime Minister among seven different parties.

Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the governing Congress Party, are the two main rivals with the leader of the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal, also attracting a lot of attention.

Whoever takes the post will succeed Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister who was in office for a decade.