Britain intends to raise the number of scholarships offered to Indians under the Chevening programme to 3,000 a year from the present 130, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said here on Saturday.‘‘The (British) Prime Minister (Tony Blair) has set a target and we are committed to increase the number to 3,000 scholarships a year,’’ Straw said after distributing Chevening certificates to Indians who have won scholarships to study in the UK.‘‘India is the largest beneficiary of Chevening (the country home of the British Foreign Secretary) programmes in the world,’’ Straw said.He recalled that he had visited Bangalore 25 years ago during his honeymoon and again 12 years ago on an official visit, and said that the city had progressed over the years.The British Foreign Secretary earlier visited the corporate headquarters of software major Infosys Technologies here.Noting that more than 70 British companies had operations here, he said that these links were being reciprocated by Indian companies by investing in UK’s IT sector or collaborating with British companies on cutting-edge biotechnology research.‘‘Increasingly, our business ties are a true two-way partnership, to the benefit of both our countries,’’ Straw said.
