HAMPSHIRE business chiefs have welcomed the visit of the Indian Prime Minister as the greatest opportunity for a generation.

The Red Arrows marked the arrival into the UK of Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday ahead of a three-day trip where he will meet the Queen, visit a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square and address crowds at Wembley Stadium.

David Cameron hailed the trip as an opportunity for Britain and India to help each other prosper.

He said: "It's an opportunity for two countries, tied by history, people and values, to work together to overcome the biggest challenges of our age.

"Prime Minister Modi and I intend to grab that opportunity with both hands."

His words were echoed by Hampshire's business chiefs who said the trip was an unrivalled opportunity to increase and build on UK and Indian business relations.

The India Business Group (IBG), a Southampton and Winchester-based consultancy specialising in helping organisations develop trade and investment between the two countries expect deals worth more than £10b to be signed while Prime Minister Modi is in the UK.

IBG head Amarjit Singh said: “The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents the greatest business opportunity for a generation.

“The Modi visit is a game-changer in UK and India business relations and one of the most important economic opportunities of the past decade.

“This visit signals a new era in cooperation between a country that boasts a fifth of the world’s population and one of the great financial global powerhouses.

“Business with India is getting easier all the time. In the past year it has leap 12 places in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index. There has never been a better time for one of the world’s oldest democracies to work with the world’s biggest.”

Mr Modi is also due to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace during his visit.

Britain is already the largest investor in India among G20 countrie while India invests more in the UK than it does in the rest of the EU combined.

Billions of pounds worth of commercial deals are expected to to be signed over the coming days - including plans for the UK to become a centre of offshore rupee bonds and a partnership to develop three ''smart cities'' in India.

Mr Modi has said the aim is ''strengthening cooperation with a traditional friend''. The premier's itinerary also includes an address to the British Parliament - despite the fact Parliament is not in session - and an event at Wembley Stadium.

But while he is receiving a rapturous welcome in some quarters, Mr Modi - who won the world's biggest democratic mandate in elections last year - is also coming under fire from critics.

A crowd of around a hundred protesters had gathered outside Downing Street, chanting noisily and holding placards.

Messages on the banners included ''Modi not welcome'', ''Stop religious persecution'', and ''Remove illegal blockade in Nepal''.

A police cordon and vans were in position to prevent them disrupting access to the street. Roads around Westminster were closed off and helicopters were circling overhead.

More than 200 writers, including Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie and Val McDermid, have written an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to raise concerns about freedom of expression in India during his talks with Mr Modi.