Ten UK companies specialising in waste, energy and water management have visited India to work towards sustainable growth in the city of Kolkata.

They met with Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to discuss potential for collaboration in the low carbon sector and see where their expertise could be used.

Rapidly developing Indian cities like Kolkata are said to be the primary engines of innovation and employment in the country but also pollute the environment and consume huge amounts of energy.

The UK is working with KMC to help ensure growth whilst reducing emissions and making the city more climate resilient.

British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith spoke about the collaboration at a talk in the South Asian nation, where he was joined by several British business eager to work with the KMC.

He said: “In cities across the world we need to get better and smarter to reduce our consumption and improve our management of energy and other resources and to ensure cities provide a good quality of life for our citizens.

“The KMC-UK Memorandum of Understanding for a green and smart Kolkata is a fantastic example of what greening the economy looks like in practice – creating business opportunities in low carbon growth; reducing carbon emissions, building skills and capacity and making cities more climate resilient.”