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Theresa May jets to India on Sunday to drum up business for British firms preparing for Brexit .

The Prime Minister is packing her plane with company bosses hoping to strike deals with captains of Asian industry.

Dozens of UK business leaders will join the Tory leader aboard her RAF Voyager for the 4,000-mile, eight-hour flight to Delhi.

It will be Mrs May’s first trade trip since entering Downing Street in July.

And a UK Government official said that with Brexit looming, beefing up ties with India “matters now more than ever”.

The source said: “India is the fastest growing major economy with growth rates of around seven per cent.

(Image: Getty)

“By 2030 its population will have overtaken China and it will be the third largest economy.”

Mrs May holds talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi on Monday. The pair met briefly last year when he visited in London.

Outlining the potential boom for UK business, the source said: “By 2025 Modi will be looking to need to raise $50billion to spend on new hospitals, $3.6trillion on investing in energy, $1trillion for core infrastructure.

“These are areas that play to the strengths of British businesses in terms of our world class engineering, manufacturing and services.

Firms represented on the trip include insurance firm Aviva, drinks giant Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association, which represents distillers.

No 10 expects to sign a series of deals, including a £1.2million initiative for a rail factory in India, a £15million centre in Chennai developed by Lyca Health UK and £350million investment from British start up firm Kloudpad in Kochi.

Contracts due to be rubber-stumped will create 1,370 jobs in the UK, Downing Street claimed.

Mrs May also wants to persuade India to let British law firms work there. But she will be pressed to ease visa restrictions for Indians.

Mrs May said last night: “The UK and India are natural partners – the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy – and together I believe we can achieve great things; delivering jobs and skills, developing new technologies and improving our cities, tackling terrorism and climate change.

“This is a partnership about our shared security and shared prosperity.

“It is a partnership of potential - and on this visit I intend to harness that potential, rebooting an age-old relationship in this age of opportunity and with that helping to build a better Britain.”

She added: “When I took office, I said that the mission of this Government would be to forge a bold new positive role for the United Kingdom in the world and make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us.

“And that’s exactly what I will be doing this week - leading my first trade mission to India, with small businesses from every corner of the country, as we seize the opportunities of leaving the European Union.”