The lucrative Indian legal market – a holy grail for leading City-based international law firms – could be opened up in as little as three years if political conditions are favourable, Bridget Prentice, justice minister, has claimed.

Ms Prentice, who has just returned from a lobbying trip to India, said it would be a “tragedy” if the country’s legal industry failed to internationalise like other sectors such as information technology and pharmaceuticals.