London, Dec. 1: Peter Mandelson is to lead a 150-strong delegation consisting of British captains of industry to Mumbai next month to demonstrate the UK’s unequivocal support for India, the secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform announced today after a conference at 10, Downing Street, with Gordon Brown.

The “business as usual” attitude of the British government is intended to send a strong signal to the Pakistani terrorists and their controllers that the massacre in Mumbai will not deflect the UK’s “strong commitment to India and the Indian growth story”.

The biggest problem will not be the fear of terrorists but a logistical one – finding enough hotel rooms for the chief executive officers and managing directors from blue chip British companies who would normally have stayed at the Taj.

“But it’s not a problem which can’t be solved,” said a confident Sharon Bamford, the chief executive of the UK India Business Council, a body which receives

£1 million a year from the British government to promote bilateral trade.

Bamford told The Telegraph the negotiations would cover such areas as education, retail, nuclear energy, financial and legal services, insurance, branding and luxury goods as well as “sports psychology”.

Although the view is that “business is business and security is security”, it is acknowledged that “the business of security” may open up new possibilities for the British who have rather more experience than the Indians of tackling hostage crises.

At the meeting today with the prime minister, Mandelson and Gareth Thomas, minister of state for trade investment and consumer affairs were key members of the council’s advisory board including Helen Alexander, vice-president, Confederation of British Industry; Andrew Cahn, CEO, UK Trade and Investment; Sir Howard Davies, director, London School of Economics; Stuart Fraser, chairman, policy and resources committee, City of London Corporation; Sir Bill Gammell, chief executive, Cairn Energy; Stephen Green, group chairman, HSBC Holdings; Gerry Grimstone, chairman, Standard Life; Terry Hill, chairman, Arup Group; Lord (Robin) Janvrin, deputy chairman, HSBC Private Bank; Sir Paul Judge, chairman, Schroder Income Growth Fund; and Barry Lowen, director, Asia Pacific, International group, Auk Trade and Investment.

Most of them – and possibly all – are expected to travel with Mandelson, who is expected to be in Mumbai after visiting Delhi and before most probably moving on to Pune in mid-January.

“No one has cancelled,” said Bamford Also with them will be others who were Downing Street today – Lord Marshall, chairman, Nomura International; Dr Gerry Murphy; senior managing director, the Blackstone Group International; Lord Daljit Rana, a senior Indian businessman in Northern Ireland; Stuart Popham, Clifford Chance, a well known legal firm; Paul Skinner, Rio Tinto; Sir Richard Sykes, Rector, Imperial College; and Willie Walsh, CEO, British Airways who is being urged to reconsider his decision to stop direct flights from Heathrow to Calcutta from March next year.

Mandelson was Kamal Nath’s sparring partner in his previous job when, as the European Union’s trade commissioner, he clashed with India’s Commerce and industry ministry during the WTO talks. There are now hopes that in the post-Mumbai climate, both sides will compromise and there will be a WTO agreement by the end of the year.

After the meeting, Lord Karan Bilimoria, chairman of the UK India Business Council and founder of Cobra Beer, said: “The Prime Minister assured us and he has been in regular touch with the prime minister of India and he has assured India of his full support on all fronts, including on security.”

Bilimoria pointed out: “Today, round the table at Downing Street, we were very proud to have the who’s who of British industry. These are ambassadors for British business where India is concerned. There is tremendous commitment all round and the beauty of the UK Indo Business Council is that it is the government and the private sector working together.”

Bilimoria emphasised: “One of the main messages of the meeting today was that, given the atrocities of the last week, we, as a business community, are completely committed, with the backing of the British government, to continuing our engagement with India. The relationship with India has never been closer – it’s stronger than ever, people to people, business to business, government to government.”