The UK has become the biggest foreign investor in India, according to a report on investment flows by the Commonwealth Business Council, which promotes ­private sector opportunities in the developing world.

Official figures had shown the UK’s foreign direct investment in India last year – £560m ($1.1bn, €706m) – made it the third biggest, but when investments made by UK companies through Mauritius, the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus were included it outstripped the US as the leading investor with more than £8bn.